Fig. 4.

MSNs as nanocarrier of antimicrobial agent (levofloxacin, LEVO) and functionalized with a biofilm targeting agent (ConA). In this case, the functionalization of MSNs with ConA favours its internalization in E. coli biofilms affording a synergistic combination with LEVO-loaded MSNs, which triggers an efficient antimicrobial effect on E. coli biofilm. The image represents the percentage of covered surface by live bacteria (green) and mucopolysaccharide layer (blue) and the representative confocal images show a complete reduction after incubation with the nanosystems functionalized with ConA and loaded with LEVO (MSNConA@LEVO) [7].