Bactericidal effects of Resveratrol-loaded glycosylated liposomes on Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA

Liposomes have unique characteristics of biocompatibility, versatility and simplicity of preparation, making them excellent candidates for drug delivery. These nanosystems can allow the release of drugs to target cells, reducing the dosage and avoiding healthy tissues and organs; moreover, due to their ability to fused with bacteria and to improve antibiotics activity, they hold the potential to overcome multi-drug resistance in bacterial infections [1]. Here we report the targeted delivery of trans-resveratrol (RSV), a Quorum Sensing Inhibitor, to two strains of resistant and biofilm forming bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). RSV was encapsulated in cationic glycosylated liposomes formulated with 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocoline (DOPC), cholesterol (chol) and one glycoamphiphile featuring a galactosyl, mannosyl or glucosyl moiety, previously synthesized and used in our laboratory to target bacteria and biofilms (Figure 1) [2,3]. In fact, the synthetic glycolipids are able to increase liposomes specificity toward lectins, a class of non-enzymatic sugar-binding proteins involved in cellular recognition and adhesion, and sugar-protein transporters located on the outer membrane of bacterial cells.