Work

Nanogels conjugated with cell-penetrating peptide as drug delivery vehicle for treating urinary tract infections

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Among hospital–acquired infections, Pseudomonas aeruginosa- associated urinary tract infections (UTIs) are mainly caused by indwelling urethral catheters (catheter-associated UTIs or CAUTIs) and are difficult to treat, resulting in high rates of morbidity among hospitalized patients. While antibiotics can successfully treat bacteria in the bladder lumen, they are inefficient at crossing stratified urothelium plasma membranes to kill persistent intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs). Herein, we introduce an approach to target UTI IBCs by locally delivering the antibiotic gentamicin via polymeric nanogels conjugated with a cell-penetrating peptide Cys-Gly-Lys-Arg-Lys. This novel approach delivered ~36 % more intracellular gentamicin compared to drug delivered in solution in vitro. In an acute UTI murine model, the nanogel cell-penetrating peptide drug delivery system facilitated the transport of gentamicin into the urothelium and resulted in >90 % clearance of a uropathogenic P. aeruginosa clinical strain in vivo. Nanogels conjugated with a cell-penetrating peptide deliver an antibiotic locally that targets intracellular bacterial communities in urinary tract infections (UTIs). We demonstrate that treating infections of Pseudomonas aeruginosa -associated UTIs in an acute murine UTI model using nanogels resulted in greater clearance of bacteria.

Source: Nanomedicine Nanotechnology Biology and Medicine

DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2025.102812