Antimicrobial resistance is a well-recognized problem in the healthcare system, which is fundamentally limited by our ability to detect the resistant bacteria at the point-of-care. One of the more prevalent mechanisms that bacteria have developed to resist antibiotics are the β-lactamase enzymes, which confer resistance to the β-lactam antibiotics (e.g. penicillin). We have developed antibiotic-functionalized surfaces (Au, SiO2) that can be used to detect these enzymes in complex biological media, such as a patient's urine sample.1 In this presentation, I will share the preparation of the tethered antibiotics2 that allow for the controlled immobilization onto a surface. I will also share the optimization of the surface chemistry used to produce these surface-bound antibiotics, including the characterization and investigations of these surfaces using PM-IRRAS and QCM-D techniques.1 Furthermore, I will detail our ongoing research into the application of these surfaces towards new diagnostics for point-of-care bacterial susceptibility testing, including a lateral flow device (LFD) using antibiotic-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs).3 This LFD could provide a fast and cost-effective diagnostic tool to aid the detection of drug-resistant bacterial infections to help prevent the spread of potentially fatal infections. This project is highly interdisciplinary, spanning across the Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Electronic Engineering departments at the University of York, and in close collaboration with clinicians at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Surface-bound antibiotics for the detection of β-lactamases

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.