Single Atom Engineered Antibiotics Overcome Bacterial Resistance
The outbreak of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or "superbugs", poses a global public health hazard due to their resilience against the most effective last-line antibiotics. Identifying potent antibacterial agents capable of evading bacterial resistance mechanisms represents the ultimate defense strategy. This study shows that -the otherwise essential micronutrient- manganese turns into a broad-spectrum potent antibiotic when coordinated with a carboxylated nitrogen-doped graphene. This antibiotic material (termed NGA-Mn) not only inhibits the growth of a wide spectrum of multidrug-resistant bacteria but also heals wounds infected by bacteria in vivo and, most importantly, effectively evades bacterial resistance development. NGA-Mn exhibits up to 25-fold higher cytocompatibility to human cells than its minimum bacterial inhibitory concentration, demonstrating its potential as a next-generation antibacterial agent. Experimental findings suggest that NGA-Mn acts on the outer side of the bacterial cell membrane via a multimolecular collective binding, blocking vital functions in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The results underscore the potential of single-atom engineering toward potent antibiotics, offering simultaneously a long-sought solution for evading drug resistance development while being cytocompatible to human cells.
Authors
- Pavla Kučová
- David Panáček (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0881-0477)
- Milan Kolář (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4621-8868)
- En Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3416-2414)
- Veronika Šedajová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1635-1206)
- Martin Šrejber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9556-2978)
- Giorgio Zoppellaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2304-2564)
- Michal Otyepka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1066-5677)
- Radek Zbořil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3147-2196)
- Zupeng Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7351-3240)
- Rostislav Langer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5470-4423)
- Aleš Panáček (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5429-9966)
- Renata Večeřová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7546-530X)
- Markéta Paloncýová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6811-7761)
- Lucie Hochvaldová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6817-7887)
- Zdeňěk Baďura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2330-2012)
- Aristides Bakandritsos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4411-9348)
- Jianrong Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4867-1893)
- Lukáš Zdražil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5284-9845)
- Ruibin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6471-7658)
- Zhiqiang Xiong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7984-3662)
- Tomáš Malina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5631-607X)
- Jan Belza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3104-6007)
- Lina Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4909-9796)
Institutions
- VSB - Technical University of Ostrava (CZ)
- Nanjing Forestry University (CN)
- Soochow University (CN)
- Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN)
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (CZ)
- Palacký University Olomouc (CZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2024-09-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202410652
- Citations
- 31
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.63
Funders
- Salt Science Research Foundation
- European Commission
- Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy
- Ministerstvo Životního Prostředí
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- European Regional Development Fund
- European Social Fund