Surface-Induced Peptide Nanofibers for Selective Bacteria Trapping
Tingting Li, Ci Zhu, Liang Chen, Tingfen Deng, Xia Wu, Kang Wen, Xinxin Feng, Dan Yuan, Bing Xu, Junfeng Shi
Abstract
The abuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of various drug-resistant bacterial strains that threaten human health. Other than a continuous screen for antibiotics, alternative strategies need to be adopted to inhibit bacterial invasion. Herein, we de novo designed a self-assembling peptide that contains a bacteria-binding domain, a linker, and a self-assembly motif. This peptide could specifically bind with a surface protein on Staphylococcus aureus, subsequently self-assemble to form nanofibers, and selectively engulf and trap the bacteria. Thus, these trapped bacteria lack the ability to invade host cells and are unable to form a biofilm. More importantly, the designed peptide is nontoxic to human cells. Such a “trap but not kill” strategy could serve as an alternative to conventional antibiotics and shows great potential for treating bacteria.