When pathogenic bacteria colonize a wound, they can create an alkaline ecological niche that selects for their survival by creating an inflammatory environment restricting healthy wound healing to proceed. To aid healing, wound acidification has been exploited to disrupt this process and stimulate fibroblast growth, increase wound oxygen concentrations, minimize proteolytic activity, and restimulate the host immune system. Within this study, we have developed cobalt-doped carbon quantum dot nanoparticles that work together with mild acetic acid, creating a potent synergistic antimicrobial therapy. The acidic environment alters the osmotic balance of microorganisms, forcing them to swell and speed up the internalization of the ultrasmall particles. The particles hyperpolarize the bacterial membranes and generate damaging peroxidase species, resulting in cellular lysis. In mice, cobalt-doped carbon quantum dots remove MRSA infection while allowing wounds to heal at rates equivalent to that of uninfected wounds. This work demonstrates how synergistic antimicrobial treatment strategies can be successfully used to combat antimicrobial-resistant infections.

The antibiotic polymyxin B requires bacterial metabolic activity to cause sufficient damage to the outer membrane to access the inner membrane, which it permeabilizes via an energy-independent mechanism to kill the cell.

Neonatal sepsis in tertiary hospitals in Southeast Asia is predominantly caused by gram-negative bacteria, with high rates of non-susceptibility to commonly prescribed antibiotics.

Three-quarters of a century ago, two investigators at Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, J. Howard Mueller and Jane Hinton, published a succinct research note addressing a vexing prob...

Azithromycin exhibited potent bactericidal activity against ESBL E. coli when tested in bicarbonate- and serum-supplemented media. These effects were not p

Infections caused by New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM)-producing strains of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae are a global public health threat lacking reliable therapies. NDM is impervious ...

Antibiotic resistance poses an increasingly grave threat to the public health. Of pressing concern, rapid spread of carbapenem-resistance among multid…

A new government study reveals a rapid rise in US cases of virtually untreatable, hard-to-detect bacterial infections since 2019.

Victor Nizet, MD, discusses how students can thrive at the university’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He discusses the school's features including its rigorous coursework, foc...

Health officials warn of an increased risk of exposure to rare flesh-eating bacteria between May and October as the bacterial infection spreads.

Azithromycin exhibited potent bactericidal activity against ESBL E. coli when tested in bicarbonate- and serum-supplemented media. These effects were not p

As major consumers of cellular metabolites, mitochondria are poised to compete with invading microbes for the nutrients that they need to grow. Whether cells exploit mitochondrial metabolism to protec...

As an actor, Robert Redford found himself at the heart of many adventures, love stories and battles-but the most emotionally wrenching scenes played out away from the cameras.