A Novel Nano-Antimicrobial Polymer Engineered with Chitosan Nanoparticles and Bioactive Peptides as Promising Food Biopreservative Effective against Foodborne Pathogen E. coli O157 -Caused Epithelial Barrier Dysfunction and Inflammatory Responses

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2021-12, Vol.22 (24), p.13580
• Main Authors: Kuang, Ming, Yu, Haitao, Qiao, Shiyan, Huang, Tao, Zhang, Jiaqi, Sun, Mingchao, Shi, Xiumei, Chen, Han
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; anti-inflammation; Antibacterial activity; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; antimicrobial peptide; Antioxidants; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Bactericidal activity; Biocompatibility; Cell Line; Chitosan; Chitosan - chemistry; Chitosan - pharmacology; chitosan nanoparticles; Cytotoxicity; Drug resistance; E coli; E. coli O157; Electrical resistivity; Epithelial cells; Epithelium; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections - pathology; Escherichia coli Infections - prevention & control; Escherichia coli O157 - drug effects; Escherichia coli O157 - physiology; Food industry; Food Preservatives - chemistry; Food Preservatives - pharmacology; Food quality; Foodborne Diseases - pathology; Foodborne Diseases - prevention & control; Foodborne pathogens; Genotoxicity; Humans; Infections; Inflammation; Intestinal Mucosa - drug effects; Intestinal Mucosa - microbiology; Intestinal Mucosa - pathology; Intestine; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; MAP kinase; microcin J25; Microorganisms; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nuclear safety; Pathogens; Peptides; Peptides - chemistry; Peptides - pharmacology; Polymers; Protein kinase; Proteins; Risk assessment; Spoilage; Swine; Tumors
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms222413580

For food quality and safety issues, the emergence of foodborne pathogenic bacteria has further accelerated the spread of antibiotic residues and drug resistance genes. To alleviate the harm caused by bacterial infections, it is necessary to seek novel antimicrobial agents as biopreservatives to prevent microbial spoilage. Nanoantimicrobials have been widely used in the direct treatment of bacterial infections. CNMs, formed by chitosan nanoparticles and peptides, are promising antibiotic alternatives for use as excellent new antibacterial drugs against pathogenic bacteria. Herein, the current study evaluated the function of CNMs in the protection of foodborne pathogen ( ) O157 infection using an intestinal epithelial cell model. Antibacterial activity assays indicated that CNMs exerted excellent bactericidal activity against . Assessment of the cytotoxicity risks toward cells demonstrated that 0.0125-0.02% of CNMs did not cause toxicity, but 0.4% of CNMs caused cytotoxicity. Additionally, CNMs did not induced genotoxicity either. CNMs protected against -induced barrier dysfunction by increasing transepithelial electrical resistance, decreasing lactate dehydrogenase and promoting the protein expression of occludin. CNMs were further found to ameliorate inflammation via modulation of tumor factor α, toll-like receptor 4 and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) expression via inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase and NF-κB activation and improved antioxidant activity. Taken together, CNMs could protect the host against -induced intestinal barrier damage and inflammation, showing that CNMs have great advantages and potential application as novel antimicrobial polymers in the food industry as food biopreservatives, bringing new hope for the treatment of bacterial infections.