@article{Wu2025, 
author = {Sixuan Wu and Ran Xu and Rui Mao and Yumei Chen and Chao Liang and Enping Liu and Hui Chen and Shangshang Qin and Aiping Wang},
title = {Pathogen-anchoring nano electrosensitizer serves as electro-driven antibiotic adjuvant to revitalize carbapenems activity against NDMs-producing CRE},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {18},
number = {12},
pages = {94908159},
keywords = {electrodynamic therapy, antibiotic adjuvants, pathogen-anchoring, Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, New Delhi metallo-β-lactamases},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94908159},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94908159},
abstract = {Infections by Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) producing New Delhi metallo-β-lactamases (NDMs) that hydrolyze carbapenems, are difficult to treat. Considering the fact of barren antibiotic development pipeline nowadays, revitalizing carbapenems efficacy using antibiotic adjuvants represents a promising but as-yet-unrealized tactic in combating NDMs-producing CRE, because of their off-target distributions, weak permeability to the outer membrane (OM) barrier, and limited NDMs-inactivation ability. Here, a pathogen-anchoring nano electrosensitizer, is proposed for serving as electrodynamic therapy (EDT)-activatable antibiotic adjuvant to revitalize meropenem (MEM, a typical carbapenems), through layer-by-layer assembly of platinum nanoclusters (PtNCs), MEM, and maltodextrin (MA). The MA corona of electro-driven nanosensitizer promotes the efficient anchoring of PtNCs and MEM onto the surface of pathogen. Triggered by a square-wave alternating current (AC), MEM is released, PtNCs-based EDT is activated, accompanied by the generation of electro-driven reactive oxygen (ROS) at the bacterial infectious microenvironment. Subsequently, the antibacterial efficacy of MEM is thereby restored against NDMs-producing CRE through the ROS-mediated cascading effect, including the OM destruction, MEM intracellular accumulation, and NDMs inactivation. By the cooperation of MA-mediated pathogen anchoring and EDT-induced dual action, the pathogen-anchoring nano electrosensitizer revitalizes MEM efficacy against clinically isolated NDMs-producing CRE in vitro, and in mice infection model, importantly, also slows down the development of higher-level resistance in NDMs-producing CRE. The pathogen-anchoring nano electrosensitizer can fully play the therapeutic potency of carbapenems, providing a promising approach to tackle NDMs producer-induced infections.}
}