Figure 4. Binding to platelet-adhering pathogens.
(a) SEM images of MRSA252 bacteria following incubation with PBS (top left), bare NPs (top right), RBCNPs (bottom left), and PNPs (bottom right). Scale bar = 1 µm. (b) Normalized fluorescence intensity of DiD-loaded nanoformulations retained on MRSA252 based on flow cytometric analysis. Bars represent means ± SD (n=3). (c) In vitro antimicrobial efficacy of free vancomycin, vancomycin-loaded RBCNPs (RBCNP-Vanc), and vancomycin-loaded PNPs (PNP-Vanc). Bars represent means ± SD (n=3). (d–i) In vivo antimicrobial efficacy of free vancomycin at 10 mg kg−1 (Vanc-10), RBCNP-Vanc-10, and PNP-Vanc-10, and free vancomycin at 6 times the dosing (Vanc-60, 60 mg kg−1) was examined in a mouse model of systemic infection with MRSA252. Following 3 days of treatments, bacterial loads in different organs including (d) blood, (e) heart, (f) lung, (g) liver, (h) spleen, and (i) kidney were quantified. Bars represent means ± SEM (n=14). *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001, ****P ≤ 0.0001.