Development of bioinspired
nanomotors showing effective propulsion
and cargo delivery capabilities has attracted much attention in the
last few years due to their potential use in biomedical applications.
However, implementation of this technology in realistic settings is
still a barely explored field. Herein, we report the design and application
of a multifunctional gated Janus platinum–mesoporous silica
nanomotor constituted of a propelling element (platinum nanodendrites)
and a drug-loaded nanocontainer (mesoporous silica nanoparticle) capped
with ficin enzyme modified with β-cyclodextrins (β-CD).
The engineered nanomotor is designed to effectively disrupt bacterial
biofilms via H2O2-induced self-propelled motion,
ficin hydrolysis of the extracellular polymeric matrix (EPS) of the
biofilm, and controlled pH-triggered cargo (vancomycin) delivery.
The effective synergic antimicrobial activity of the nanomotor is
demonstrated in the elimination ofStaphylococcus aureusbiofilms. The nanomotor achieves 82% of EPS biomass disruption and
a 96% reduction in cell viability, which contrasts with a remarkably
lower reduction in biofilm elimination when the components of the
nanomotors are used separately at the same concentrations. Such a
large reduction in biofilm biomass inS. aureushas never been achieved previously by any conventional therapy.
The strategy proposed suggests that engineered nanomotors have great
potential for the elimination of biofilms.