Abstract
Treating bone infections with common antibiotics is challenging, since pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus can reside inside macrophages. To target these intracellular bacteria, we have proposed nanoparticles (NPs) as drug carriers. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of hydroxyapatite and gelatin NPs, selected in view of their bone mimicry and potential for targeted delivery, as carriers for the antibacterial agents zinc and vancomycin. Therefore, two distinct NPs are fabricated: zinc-doped hydroxyapatite (ZnHA) and vancomycin-loaded gelatin (VGel) NPs. The NPs are characterized based on morphology, size, chemical composition, cellular internalization, and intracellular bactericidal efficacy. Specifically, the intracellular bactericidal efficacy is tested using a validated coculture model of human THP-1 derived macrophages and phagocytosed S. aureus bacteria. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results show that the spherical NPs are synthesized successfully. These NPs are internalized by THP-1 cells and show >75% colocalization with lysosomes without compromising the viability of the THP-1 cells. Both ZnHA and VGel NPs substantially reduce the intracellular survival of S. aureus compared to the direct addition of dissolved zinc and vancomycin. Concluding, our NPs are highly effective drug delivery vehicles to kill intracellular S. aureus, which stress the potential of these NPs for future clinical translation.