Inhibition of Pathogen Adhesion by Bacterial Outer Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles

Anti-adhesion therapies interfere with the bacterial adhesion to the host and thus avoid direct disruption of bacterial cycles for killing, which may alleviate resistance development. Herein, an anti-adhesion nanomedicine platform is made by wrapping synthetic polymeric cores with bacterial outer membranes. The resulting bacterium-mimicking nanoparticles (denoted "OM-NPs") compete with source bacteria for binding to the host. The "top-down" fabrication of OM-NPs avoids the identification of the adhesins and bypasses the design of agonists targeting these adhesins. In this study, OM-NPs are made with the membrane of Helicobacter pylori and shown to bind with gastric epithelial cells (AGS cells). Treatment of AGS cells with OM-NPs reduces H. pylori adhesion and such anti-adhesion efficacy is dependent on OM-NP concentration and its dosing sequence.