Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of vancomycin–conjugated zinc coordination polymer nanoparticles against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus

Due to the overuse of antimicrobial drugs, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has caused a serious burden worldwide. Herein, we report a novel one-pot hydrothermal route to synthesize a vancomycin-encapsulated Zn-BTC-coordination polymer. FTIR and PXRD confirmed the composites and crystal structure of coordination polymer. The VAC-Zn-BTC-coordination polymer had a mean diameter, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency of 59.6 ± 2.98 nm, 0.295 ± 0.0147, −11 ±-0.55 mV and 68.24 ± 3.412%, respectively at physiological pH. The safety of MTT in vitro in Human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK-293), adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A-549), and Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cell lines and the hemolytic assay of VAC-Zn-BTC-coordination polymer was evaluated. The in vitro results of the MTT assay were revealed to be safe in all three cell lines and non-hemolytic, thus indicating their biosafety. Molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) showed that higher binding and interaction energies were seen. The VAC release from the VAC-Zn-BTC-coordination polymer was slower than the powder VAC after 48 h. The VAC-Zn-BTC-coordination polymer revealed a lower MIC value of 1.02 μg/mL against MRSA with a 10-fold antimicrobial enhancement. The bactericidal time-kill kinetics assay showed that VAC-Zn-BTC-coordination polymer combinations showed good bactericidal effects over 24 h compared to bare VAC powder. These findings suggest that VAC-Zn-BTC-coordination polymer could be used as excellent potential for the improvement and management of bacterial contagions instigated by MRSA.