Effect of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on the Expression of Efflux Pump and Quorum-Sensing Genes in MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates

Most of the infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa strains are extremely difficult to be treated with conventional antibiotics. Biofilm formation and efflux pumps are recognized as the major antibiotic resistance mechanisms in MDR P. aeruginosa. Biofilm formation by P. aerugin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antibiotics (Basel) 2021-05, Vol.10 (6), p.625
Main Authors: Ahmed, Fatma Y., Aly, Usama Farghaly, Abd El-Baky, Rehab Mahmoud, Waly, Nancy G. F. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibacterial activity
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotics
Antimicrobial agents
Bacteria
biofilm
Biofilms
Carbonyl compounds
Carbonyls
Cell culture
Cell interactions
Cyanides
Drug resistance
Efflux
efflux pumps
Fourier transforms
Gene expression
Genes
MDR P. aeruginosa
Microorganisms
Multidrug resistance
Nanoparticles
Pathogens
Polymerase chain reaction
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Pumps
quorum-sensing system
real-time polymerase chain reaction
RhlR protein
Sol-gel processes
Strains (organisms)
Tissue culture
Titanium
Titanium dioxide
titanium dioxide nanoparticles
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Summary:Most of the infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa strains are extremely difficult to be treated with conventional antibiotics. Biofilm formation and efflux pumps are recognized as the major antibiotic resistance mechanisms in MDR P. aeruginosa. Biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa depends mainly on the cell-to-cell communication quorum-sensing (QS) systems. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TDN) have been used as antimicrobial agents against several microorganisms but have not been reported as an anti-QS agent. This study aims to evaluate the impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TDN) on QS and efflux pump genes expression in MDR P. aeruginosa isolates. The antimicrobial susceptibility of 25 P. aeruginosa isolates were performed by Kirby–Bauer disc diffusion. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TDN) were prepared by the sol gel method and characterized by different techniques (DLS, HR-TEM, XRD, and FTIR). The expression of efflux pumps in the MDR isolates was detected by the determination of MICs of different antibiotics in the presence and absence of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP). Biofilm formation and the antibiofilm activity of TDN were determined using the tissue culture plate method. The effects of TDN on the expression of QS genes and efflux pump genes were tested using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The average size of the TDNs was 64.77 nm. It was found that TDN showed a significant reduction in biofilm formation (96%) and represented superior antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa strains in comparison to titanium dioxide powder. In addition, the use of TDN alone or in combination with antibiotics resulted in significant downregulation of the efflux pump genes (MexY, MexB, MexA) and QS-regulated genes (lasR, lasI, rhll, rhlR, pqsA, pqsR) in comparison to the untreated isolate. TDN can increase the therapeutic efficacy of traditional antibiotics by affecting efflux pump expression and quorum-sensing genes controlling biofilm production.
ISSN:2079-6382
2079-6382
DOI:10.3390/antibiotics10060625