Gold nanoparticle-DNA aptamer-assisted delivery of antimicrobial peptide effectively inhibits Acinetobacter baumannii infection in mice

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii causes multidrug resistance, leading to fatal infections in humans. In this study, we showed that Lys AB2 P3-His–a hexahistidine-tagged form of an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) loaded onto DNA aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNP-Apt)–can effectively inhibit A. baumannii infection in mice. When A. baumannii-infected mice were intraperitoneally injected with AuNP-Apt loaded with Lys AB2 P3-His, a marked reduction in A. baumannii colonization was observed in the mouse organs, leading to prominently increased survival time and rate of the mice compared to those of the control mice treated with AuNP-Apt or Lys AB2 P3-His only. This study shows that AMPs loaded onto AuNP-Apt could be an effective therapeutic tool against infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria in humans.