Mechanical penetration of β-lactam–resistant Gram-negative bacteria by programmable nanowires
Lizhi Liu, Sheng Chen, Xu Zhang, Zhenjie Xue, Shengjie Cui, Xiaoting Hua, Baowei Yang, Huiling Yan, Cong Liu, Jing Wang, Jing Wang, Zengfeng Zhang, Wei Yu, Fan Wu, Wujun Xu, Vesa‐Pekka Lehto, Tianli Yue, Yan Liu, Yunsong Yu, Tie Wang, Jianlong Wang, Jianlong Wang
Abstract
) with different degrees of β-lactam resistance. Our observations indicated that the BLR bacteria had cell stiffness values almost 10× lower than that of β-lactam-susceptible bacteria, caused by reduced peptidoglycan biosynthesis. With the aid of numerical modeling and experimental measurements, we demonstrated that these stiffness findings can be used to develop programmable, stiffness-mediated antimicrobial nanowires that mechanically penetrate the BLR bacterial cell envelope. We anticipate that these stiffness-related findings will aid in the discovery and development of novel treatment strategies for BLR Gram-negative bacterial infections.