Combat biofilm by bacteriostatic aptamer-functionalized graphene oxide

Biofilms are the main reason for a large number deaths and high health costs. Their better protection compared to planktonic form against conventional antibiotics leads to poor treatment efficiency. Nanoagent-targeted delivery is a promising avenue for disease therapeutic, but its application targeting biofilms has not been reported currently. The roles, if any, of aptamers acting as delivery carrier and targeting factor, the graphene oxide (GO), and GO modified with aptamers against biofilms were then systematically evaluated. Here, we successfully developed an aptamer-targeted GO strategy against biofilms. We investigated the efficacy of aptamer-GO conjugates by UV spectrophotometer, inverted microscopy, and atomic force microscopy; 93.5 ± 3.4% Salmonella typhimurium biofilms were inhibited and 84.6 ± 5.1% of biofilms were dispersed by a ST-3-GO conjugate. More importantly, this conjugate represented distinctively toxicity to S. typhimurium. Thus, this strategy significantly displays excellent antibiofilm properties and may serve as a long-term solution for biofilm control.