STUDYING CATIONIC NANOPARTICLES USING SYNCHROTRON FOR SUPER-RESISTANT BACTERIA TREATMENT

Bacterial resistance is a natural phenomenon that occurs when some bacteria acquire the ability to survive and reproduce in the presence of an antimicrobial agent. This phenomenon represents one of the greatest challenges for modern medicine called super-resistant bacteria. Therefore, this research studies an alternative to combat these kinds of bacteria and also to interrupt the formation of bacterial biofilm using a cationic nanoparticle. Cubosomes are self-assembling lipidic nanoparticles with a structure of bicontinuous cubic phase, which have been applied in drug delivery systems due to their high stability and capability to incorporate both hydrophobic and lipophobic drugs. This project studies cationic cubosomes, which are nanostructures formed in the presence of a cationic polymer, which is an alternative against the super-resistant bacteria, because of its interaction capability between the cationic part of the polymer with the bacterial membrane, that causes structural and permeability damages, leading to death or growth inhibition of the bacteria. Thus, the focus of the project is to produce the cationic cubosomes using phytantriol and different concentrations of the polymer PMMA16-b-PDMAEMA20, then determine shape, size, and polydispersity using different techniques like dynamic light scattering and zeta potential. After that, to realize Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to analyze the interaction between the cationic nanoparticle and a bacterial biofilm. Finally, the aim is to evaluate the antimicrobial effect in multi-resistant bacteria through in vitro assays and determine the toxicity of the cubosomes on healthy eukaryotic cells. Until now, cubosomes using different concentrations of the cationic polymer were produced, and then the encapsulation efficiency was measured by UV-Vis spectroscopy.