The global challenge of antimicrobial resistance is of increasing concern, and alternatives to currently used antibiotics or methods to improve their stewardship are sought worldwide. Microbial biofilms, complex 3D communities of bacteria and/or fungi, are difficult to treat with antibiotics for several reasons. These include their protective coats of extracellular matrix proteins which are difficult for antibiotics to penetrate. Nanoparticles (NP) are one way to rise to this challenge; whilst they exist in many forms naturally there has been a profusion in synthesis of these small (<100 nm) particles for biomedical applications. Their small size allows them to penetrate the biofilm matrix, and as well as some NP being inherently antimicrobial, they also can be modified by doping with antimicrobial payloads or coated to increase their effectiveness. This mini-review examines the current role of NP in treating wound biofilms and the rise in multifunctionality of NP.
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December 2020
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Cover Image
Cover Image
The cover image of this issue of Emerging Topics in Life Sciences: Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Medicine, shows a cancerous human lung in the back and a gold nanoparticle in the front. It represents the main objective of the review by Guinart et al.; to give insight into the role that gold nanoparticles can have in the management of lung cancer.
Review Article|
December 03 2020
Best served small: nano battles in the war against wound biofilm infections Available to Purchase
Joanna Shepherd
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K.
Correspondence: Joanna Shepherd ([email protected])
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 27 2020
Revision Received:
November 09 2020
Accepted:
November 12 2020
Online ISSN: 2397-8562
Print ISSN: 2397-8554
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology
2020
Emerg Top Life Sci (2020) 4 (6): 567–580.
Article history
Received:
August 27 2020
Revision Received:
November 09 2020
Accepted:
November 12 2020
Citation
Joanna Shepherd; Best served small: nano battles in the war against wound biofilm infections. Emerg Top Life Sci 17 December 2020; 4 (6): 567–580. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20200155
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