Inhibitive S. aureus Infection to HUVECs Induced by Trehalose and Glucose-functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

Microbial adhesion to host cells represents the initial step in the infection process. Several methods have been explored to inhibit microbial adhesion including the use of glycopolymers based on mannose, galactose, sialic acid and glucose. These sugar receptors are however abundant in the body and they are not unique to bacteria. Trehalose in con-trast is a unique disaccharide that wildly expressed by mi-crobes. The role of trehalose in bacteria has widely been in-vestigated but this carbohydrate has not yet been explored as anti-adhesive. Herein, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated with trehalose-based polymers have been prepared and compared to AuNPs coated with glucose-functionalized were developed to inhibit. Acting as anti-adhesive, trehalose-functionalized nanoparticles particularly decreased the infec-tion of HUVEC cells by S. aureus, while outperforming the control nanoparticles. Microscopy revealed that trehalose coated nanoparticle bind strongly to S. aureus compared to the controls. As a conclusion, nanoparticles based on treha-lose could be suitable to inhibit S. aureus infection.