Colistin-Loaded Polydopamine Nanospheres Uniformly Decorated with Silver Nanodots: A Nanohybrid Platform with Improved Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Performance

Bacterial infections, especially chronic infections caused by bacterial biofilms, have become a worldwide threat to public health. Encouragingly, the synergistic actions of two or more antibacterial drugs have been proven to be effective in treating refractory bacterial infections. Herein, we fabricated a robust antibacterial nanohybrid, the colistin-loaded polydopamine nanospheres (PDA NSs) decorated uniformly with small silver nanodots (u-CPSs), and the u-CPSs could realize synergistic bactericidal performance for combating bacterial infections. PDA NSs, as an adhesive nanocarrier, could bind to the bacterial surfaces, where the drugs (colistin and silver ions) on the PDA surfaces could be released persistently via a near-infrared laser-triggered manner. Interestingly, compared with colistin-loaded PDA NSs decorated sparsely with large silver nanoparticles (s-CPSs), the u-CPSs exhibited stronger antibacterial and antibiofilm effects. We have also demonstrated that the u-CPSs could disrupt the cell walls/membranes of Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria and induce the generation of toxic reactive oxygen species within the bacteria. Collectively, the present work exemplifies the exquisite design and synthesis of PDA-based nanohybrids for achieving synergistic antibacterial and antibiofilm activities, which may promote the development of more powerful nanoagents to fight against bacterial infections.