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Controlling Vancomycin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus with Electroactive Bacterial Cellulose-Carbon Nanotube Bandages

JSHS · 2023

Daniel Levin, Dr. Janet Waldeck · Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh, PA

Overview

The opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus kills over 330,000 people every year and is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, most recently vancomycin. In this study, bacterial cellulose-carbon nanotube (BC-CNT) bandages were engineered to eradicate vancomycin resistant S. aureus. Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans was cultured to produce a BC membrane at an air-media interface. Then, carboxyl- functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were integrated into purified BC with surfactants, low- frequency sonication, and rotational incubation to create highly stable and electrically conductive BC-CNT bandages. Chronoamperometry was used to standardize the electric potential of the BC-CNT bandage, allowing low-level currents to flow between two terminal electrodes. Quantified fluorescent imaging of S. aureus after exposure to electroactive BC-CNT demonstrates that the bandage can inhibit S. aureus from forming biofilms. Areas of compromised S. aureus recovery around the working electrode (W.E.) also experience reductions in pH, which suggests that reactive oxygen species are generated as a killing mechanism. Bactericidal efficacy significantly improved when a concentration of vancomycin lower than the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was added to the treatment, which suggests that electroactive BC-CNT resensitizes S. aureus to vancomycin. In this condition, the total biofilm area on the bandage was reduced by over 90% after a single hour of treatment. Scanning electron microscopy of S. aureus around the W.E. reveals a high degree of cellular stress following exposure to electroactive BC-CNT. This research presents a new direction for overcoming antibiotic resistant biofilm infections.

Competition history

  • JSHS 2023 Category not listed

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Source: Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

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