UCLA

Infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria, particularly Gram-negative organisms, are increasingly difficult to treat using antibiotics. A potential alternative is "phage therapy", in which phages infect and lyse the bacterial host. However, phage therapy poses serious drawbacks and safety concerns, such as the risk of genetic transduction of antibiotic resistance genes, inconsistent pharmacokinetics, and unknown evolutionary potential. In contrast, metallic nanoparticles possess precise, tunable properties, including efficient conversion of electronic excitation into heat. In this work, we demonstrate that engineered phage-nanomaterial conjugates that target the Gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are highly effective as a treatment of infected wounds in mice. Photothermal heating, performed as a single treatment (15 min) or as two treatments on consecutive days, rapidly reduced the bacterial load and released Zn²⁺ to promote wound healing. The phage-nanomaterial treatment was significantly more effective than systemic standard-of-care antibiotics, with a >10× greater reduction in bacterial load and ∼3× faster healing as measured by wound size reduction when compared to fluoroquinolone treatment. Notably, the phage-nanomaterial was also effective against a P. aeruginosa strain resistant to polymyxins, a last-line antibiotic therapy. Unlike these antibiotics, the phage-nanomaterial showed no detectable toxicity or systemic effects in mice, consistent with the short duration and localized nature of phage-nanomaterial treatment. Our results demonstrate that phage therapy controlled by inorganic nanomaterials can be a safe and effective antimicrobial strategy in vivo.