Cationic fullerenes are effective and selective antimicrobial photosensitizers

Fullerenes are soccer ball-shaped molecules composed of carbon atoms, and, when derivatized with functional groups, they become soluble and can act as photosensitizers. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy combines a nontoxic photosensitizer with harmless visible light to generate reactive oxygen species that kill microbial cells. We have compared the antimicrobial activity of six functionalized C(60) compounds with one, two, or three hydrophilic or cationic groups in combination with white light against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and fungi. After a 10 min incubation, the bis- and tris-cationic fullerenes were highly active in killing all tested microbes (4-6 logs) under conditions in which mammalian cells were comparatively unharmed. These compounds performed significantly better than a widely used antimicrobial photosensitizer, toluidine blue O. The high selectivity and efficacy exhibited by these photosensitizers encourage further testing for antimicrobial applications.     

Killing Bacterial Spores with Blue Light: When Innate Resistance Meets the Power of Light

This article is a highlight of the study by Maclean et al. in this issue of Photochemistry and Photobiology describing the sporicidal effects 405 nm visible light alone on endospores of the Clostridium and Bacillus genera. 1.73 kJ cm^?2 was capable of reducing endospore colony‐forming units by up to 4‐log₁₀. These findings have never been previously demonstrated and may be incorporated into decontamination methods that span medical, military and food preparatory applications.     

Rethinking the management of flexibility—a study in the aerospace defence industry

The concept of flexibility as a managed performance measure is explored through case research in the aerospace defence industry in the UK and the US. Evidence shows that flexibility is regarded as important but is not explicitly managed and practitioners recognise further opportunities in this field. The nine types of flexibility demanded in this industry are characterised under four groups and prioritised. The priorities depend on the dominant role of the organisation in the extended enterprise, and there are influences based on the difference in market structure between the UK and the US. However, the ability to handle different generations of technology, and the ability to adopt a variety of project roles, are currently the foremost issues. In order to manage these flexibility types more effectively, a business process for flexibility management is proposed together with work on a flexibility–cost model.     

THERMODYNAMIC AND PARTICLE-DYNAMIC STUDIES ON SYNTHESIS OF SILICA NANOPARTICLES USING MICROWAVE-INDUCED PLASMA CVD

1. Introduction1.1 Silica nanoparticles and synthesis methods Silica (SiO2) nanoparticles are widely used in industry asan active filler for polymer reinforcement, a rheologicaladditive in fluids, a free flow agent in powders, and anagent for chemical mechanical polishing during IC (inte-grated circuit) fabrication (Sniegowski & de Boer, 2000).Silica powder is also used for producing silicon carbide(Koc & Cattamanchi, 1998) or opaque silica aerosols (Leeet al., 1995). Many methods can …     

Supramolecular DNA assembly

The powerful self-assembly features of DNA make it a unique template to finely organize and control matter on the nanometre scale. While DNA alone offers a high degree of fidelity in its self-assembly, a new area of research termed 'supramolecular DNA assembly' has recently emerged. This field combines DNA building blocks with synthetic organic, inorganic and polymeric structures. It thus brings together the toolbox of supramolecular chemistry with the predictable and programmable nature of DNA. The result of this molecular partnership is a variety of hybrid architectures, that expand DNA assembly beyond the boundaries of Watson-Crick base pairing into new structural and functional properties. In this tutorial review we outline this emerging field of study, and describe recent research aiming to synergistically combine the properties inherent to DNA with those of a number of supramolecular scaffolds. This ultimately creates structures with numerous potential applications in materials science, catalysis and medicine.     

Analysis of the bacterial heat shock response to photodynamic therapy-mediated oxidative stress

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (PDT) has recently emerged as an effective modality for the selective destruction of bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms. We investigated whether PDT induced protective responses such as heat shock proteins (HSPs) in bacteria. Using the photosensitizer Toluidine Blue O (TBO) at sublethal PDT conditions, a seven-fold increase in bacterial HSP GroEL and a three-fold increase in HSP DnaK were observed in Escherichia coli post PDT. Pretreatment with 50°C heat for 30 min reduced PDT killing in both E. coli and in Enterococcus faecalis, with the most pronounced inhibition occurring at 50 μm TBO with 5 J cm(-2) 635 nm light, where E. coli killing was reduced by 2 log(10) and E. faecalis killing was reduced by 4 log(10). Finally, inhibition of the highly conserved chaperone DnaK using a small molecule benzylidene lactam HSP inhibitor potentiated (but not significantly) the effect of PDT at a TBO concentration of 2.5 μm in E. faecalis; however, this effect was not observed in E. coli presumably because inhibitor could not gain access due to Gram-negative permeability barrier. Induction of HSPs may be a mechanism whereby bacteria could become resistant to PDT and warrants the need for further study in the application of dual PDT-HSP-inhibition therapies.     

Ultraviolet-C irradiation for prevention of central venous catheter-related infections: an in vitro study

Central venous catheters (CVC) are widely used in the United States and are associated with 250,000 to 500,000 CVC-related infections in hospitals annually. We used a catheter made from ultraviolet-C (UVC) transmissive material to test whether delivery of UVC from the lumen would allow inactivation of microorganisms on the outer surface of CVC. When the catheter was exposed to UVC irradiation from a cold cathode fluorescent lamp inside the catheter lumen at a radiant exposure of 3.6 mJ cm(-2) , more than 6-log(10) of drug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria adhered to the outer surface of the catheter were inactivated. Three to 7-log(10) of drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and 2.80-log(10) of fungi were inactivated at a radiant exposure of 11 mJ cm(-2).UVC irradiation also offered a highly selective inactivation of bacteria over keratinocytes under exactly comparable conditions. After 11 mJ cm(-2) UVC light had been delivered, over 6-log(10) of bacteria were inactivated while the viability loss of the keratinocytes was only about 57%.     

Ultraviolet-C light for treatment of Candida albicans burn infection in mice

Burn patients are at high risk of invasive fungal infections, which are a leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and related expense exacerbated by the emergence of drug resistant fungal strains. In this study, we investigated the use of UVC light (254 nm) for the treatment of yeast Candida albicans infection in mouse third degree burns. In vitro studies demonstrated that UVC could selectively kill the pathogenic C. albicans compared with a normal mouse keratinocyte cell line in a light exposure dependent manner. A mouse model of chronic C. albicans infection in non-lethal third degree burns was developed. The C. albicans strain was stably transformed with a version of the Gaussia princeps luciferase gene that allowed real-time bioluminescence imaging of the progression of C. albicans infection. UVC treatment with a single exposure carried out on day 0 (30 min postinfection) gave an average 2.16-log(10)-unit (99.2%) loss of fungal luminescence when 2.92 J cm(-2) UVC had been delivered, while UVC 24 h postinfection gave 1.94-log(10)-unit (95.8%) reduction of fungal luminescence after 6.48 J cm(-2). Statistical analysis demonstrated that UVC treatment carried out on both day 0 and day 1 significantly reduced the fungal bioburden of infected burns. UVC was found to be superior to a topical antifungal drug, nystatin cream. UVC was tested on normal mouse skin and no gross damage was observed 24 h after 6.48 J cm(-2). DNA lesions (cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers) were observed by immunofluorescence in normal mouse skin immediately after a 6.48 J cm(-2) UVC exposure, but the lesions were extensively repaired at 24 h after UVC exposure.     

Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy in the Colon: Delivering a Light Punch to the Guts?

A paper in this issue of Photochemistry and Photobiology by Cassidy et al. describes the use of a sophisticated drug delivery vehicle prepared by the hot melt extrusion process to deliver photosensitizers to the colon. The smart vehicle protects its cargo through the acidic environment of the stomach but releases the active photosensitizers in the higher pH and anaerobic environment of the colon. The goal is to use photodynamic therapy (PDT) to destroy pathogenic microorganisms that can cause disease when they grow out of control in the colon. Since the colon is an environment with a low oxygen concentration the investigators also used tetrachlorodecaoxide, an oxygen donor to boost the available oxygen concentration. The paper reports results with Enterococcus faecalis and Bacteroides fragilis but the real medical problem demanding to be solved is Clostridium difficile that can cause intractable drug-resistant infections after antibiotic use. There still remain barriers to implementing this strategy in vivo, including light delivery to the upper colon, oxygen availability and optimizing the selectivity of photosensitizers for bacteria over colon epithelial cells. Nevertheless, this highly innovative paper lays the ground for the study of an entirely new and significant application for antimicrobial PDT.     

Surfactant addition and alternating current electrophoretic oscillation during size fractionation of nanoparticles in channels with two or three different height segments

An array of parallel planar nanochannels containing two or three segments with varying inner heights was fabricated and used for size fractionation of inorganic and biological nanoparticles. A liquid suspension of the particles was simply drawn through the nanochannels via capillary action. Using fluorescently labeled 30 nm polyacrylonitrile beads, different trapping behaviors were compared using nanochannels with 200-45 nm and 208-54-30 nm height segments. Addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant to the liquid suspension and application of an AC electric field were shown to aid in the prevention of channel clogging. After initial particle trapping at the segment interfaces, significant particle redistribution occurred when applying a sinusoidal 8V peak-to-peak oscillating voltage with a frequency of 150 Hz and DC offset of 4V. Using the 208-54-30 nm channels, 30 nm hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsids were divided into three fractions. When the AC electric field was applied to this trapped sample, all of the virus particles passed through the interfaces and accumulated at the channel ends.