Files
Abstract
Therapeutic agents like nitric oxide (NO), can be linked to nanoparticles to fortify their selectivity and targeted delivery while impeding systemic toxicity and efficacy loss. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiNPs) owe their rise in biomedical sciences to their versatile applicability. Structural modifications to immobilize NO-releasing moieties can improve TiNP’s antibacterial impact. For the first time, S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP), an NO donor molecule, was covalently immobilized on TiNPs to form the NO-releasing TiNP-SNAP nanoparticles. In addition, another NO donor small molecule, S-Nitroso-N-acetyl-l-cysteine Ethyl Ester (SNACET) was incorporated into a thermo-responsive Pluronic gel F-127 to fabricate a hydrogel that is capable of releasing NO in physiological conditions. It was shown that the hydrogels exhibit bactericidal efficacy relative to their SNACET content. Both the NO-releasing TiNPs and Pluronic hydrogels exhibit tunable NO release properties that can have a wide range of biomedical applications such as in wound healing dressings, antibacterial coatings, and polymer fillers.