A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSA

<b>Background:</b> Intracellular bacteria frequently result in chronic and recurrent infections. MRSA is one of the most prevalent facultative intracellular bacteria in clinical infections. The drug resistance of MRSA and the difficulty of most antibiotics in entering cells result in a s...

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Main Authors: Kaixin Liu, Xin Lu, Xudong Guo, Yi Yang, Wanying Liu, Hongbin Song, Rongtao Zhao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Pharmaceutics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/6/743
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author Kaixin Liu
Xin Lu
Xudong Guo
Yi Yang
Wanying Liu
Hongbin Song
Rongtao Zhao
author_facet Kaixin Liu
Xin Lu
Xudong Guo
Yi Yang
Wanying Liu
Hongbin Song
Rongtao Zhao
author_sort Kaixin Liu
collection DOAJ
description <b>Background:</b> Intracellular bacteria frequently result in chronic and recurrent infections. MRSA is one of the most prevalent facultative intracellular bacteria in clinical infections. The drug resistance of MRSA and the difficulty of most antibiotics in entering cells result in a suboptimal clinical efficacy of antibiotics in the treatment of intracellular MRSA. Bacteriophages represent a promising alternative therapy in the context of the current antimicrobial resistance crisis. Nevertheless, the low efficiency of phage entry into cells and their rapid inactivation remain challenges in the treatment of intracellular MRSA using phages. The utilization of functionalized carriers for the delivery of phages into cells and their protection represents a feasible strategy. <b>Methods:</b> In this study, a new MRSA bacteriophage (vB_SauS_PHM) was isolated from hospital sewage, exhibiting the characteristics of short incubation period, large lytic amount, and good environmental tolerance. Subsequently, vB_SauS_PHM was encapsulated by TAT peptide-functionalized liposomes through microfluidic technology and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), forming a phage delivery system, designated TAT-Lip@PHM. <b>Results:</b> The encapsulation rate of the phage by TAT-Lip@PHM was 20.3%, and the cell entry efficiency was ≥90% after 8 h. The 24 h eradication rate of 300 μg/mL TAT-Lip@PHM against intracellular MRSA was 94.05% (superior to the 21.24% and 44.90% of vB_SauS_PHM and Lip@PHM, respectively), while the mammalian cell activity was >85% after 24 h incubation. <b>Conclusions:</b> The TAT-Lip@PHM effectively delivered the phage into the cell and showed an excellent killing effect on intracellular MRSA with low cytotoxicity. This work provides a technical reference for the application of phages in the treatment of intracellular bacterial infection.
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spelling doaj-art-541699ac1c254a27af738c43d8088be72025-08-20T02:21:53ZengMDPI AGPharmaceutics1999-49232025-06-0117674310.3390/pharmaceutics17060743A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSAKaixin Liu0Xin Lu1Xudong Guo2Yi Yang3Wanying Liu4Hongbin Song5Rongtao Zhao6Chinese PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100071, ChinaThe Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100071, ChinaChinese PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100071, ChinaChinese PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100071, ChinaChinese PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100071, ChinaChinese PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100071, ChinaChinese PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100071, China<b>Background:</b> Intracellular bacteria frequently result in chronic and recurrent infections. MRSA is one of the most prevalent facultative intracellular bacteria in clinical infections. The drug resistance of MRSA and the difficulty of most antibiotics in entering cells result in a suboptimal clinical efficacy of antibiotics in the treatment of intracellular MRSA. Bacteriophages represent a promising alternative therapy in the context of the current antimicrobial resistance crisis. Nevertheless, the low efficiency of phage entry into cells and their rapid inactivation remain challenges in the treatment of intracellular MRSA using phages. The utilization of functionalized carriers for the delivery of phages into cells and their protection represents a feasible strategy. <b>Methods:</b> In this study, a new MRSA bacteriophage (vB_SauS_PHM) was isolated from hospital sewage, exhibiting the characteristics of short incubation period, large lytic amount, and good environmental tolerance. Subsequently, vB_SauS_PHM was encapsulated by TAT peptide-functionalized liposomes through microfluidic technology and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), forming a phage delivery system, designated TAT-Lip@PHM. <b>Results:</b> The encapsulation rate of the phage by TAT-Lip@PHM was 20.3%, and the cell entry efficiency was ≥90% after 8 h. The 24 h eradication rate of 300 μg/mL TAT-Lip@PHM against intracellular MRSA was 94.05% (superior to the 21.24% and 44.90% of vB_SauS_PHM and Lip@PHM, respectively), while the mammalian cell activity was >85% after 24 h incubation. <b>Conclusions:</b> The TAT-Lip@PHM effectively delivered the phage into the cell and showed an excellent killing effect on intracellular MRSA with low cytotoxicity. This work provides a technical reference for the application of phages in the treatment of intracellular bacterial infection.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/6/743intracellular MRSAphage deliveryTAT peptideliposome
spellingShingle Kaixin Liu
Xin Lu
Xudong Guo
Yi Yang
Wanying Liu
Hongbin Song
Rongtao Zhao
A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSA
Pharmaceutics
intracellular MRSA
phage delivery
TAT peptide
liposome
title A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSA
title_full A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSA
title_fullStr A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSA
title_full_unstemmed A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSA
title_short A TAT Peptide-Functionalized Liposome Delivery Phage System (TAT-Lip@PHM) for an Enhanced Eradication of Intracellular MRSA
title_sort tat peptide functionalized liposome delivery phage system tat lip phm for an enhanced eradication of intracellular mrsa
topic intracellular MRSA
phage delivery
TAT peptide
liposome
url https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/6/743
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