A Chiral Virus-Like Nanoplatform That Broadly Mediates Antibiotic Delivery to the Brain for Bacterial Meningitis Therapy.
4 affiliations
- 1School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
- 2Department of Neurosurgery, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
- 3Department of Infectious Disease, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
- 4Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Abstract
Blood-brain barrier (BBB) preserves brain homeostasis yet restricts therapeutics; in bacterial meningitis, antibiotics' limited penetration impairs delivery to the parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid, constraining efficacy and motivating strategies to overcome the barrier. To address this, we developed a chiral virus-mimicking mesoporous silica nanostructure (CVSN) functionalized with L-alanine for antibiotic delivery. It offers several distinct advantages: (1) nanoscale dimensions facilitating BBB transport; (2) virus-like morphology enhancing vascular accumulation and penetration, providing a foundation for passive targeting; (3) chiral surface modification conferring active recognition capacity for more efficient biological targeting; and (4) a mesoporous architecture that ensures high drug-loading efficiency and controlled release of drugs. Experimentally, it achieves efficient BBB penetration into the brain parenchyma and shows targeted delivery into microglia and astrocytes. Simulating the loading of cargoes by viruses, it ultimately improves the bioavailability and brain parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid contents of various antibiotics with distinct physicochemical properties, antibacterial spectrum, and BBB penetration capacity, including cefoperazone, norfloxacin, levofloxacin and imipenem. It helps to treat meningitis induced by both Gram-negative bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus) and provides a promising avenue to overcome the limitations imposed by the BBB for CNS infections antibiotic therapy in clinic.
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BibTeX
@article{xu2026chiral,
title = {{A Chiral Virus-Like Nanoplatform That Broadly Mediates Antibiotic Delivery to the Brain for Bacterial Meningitis Therapy.}},
author = {Qianqian Xu and Xuting Zheng and Huinan Tong and Ying Liu and Xiaoxi Fan and Miao Xu and Ziyan Zhang and Li Zhang and Mingyan Liu and Ting Du and Heran Li and Guojun Liu},
journal = {Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/advs.78317},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42893501},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Chiral Virus-Like Nanoplatform That Broadly Mediates Antibiotic Delivery to the Brain for Bacterial Meningitis Therapy.
AU - Qianqian Xu
AU - Xuting Zheng
AU - Huinan Tong
AU - Ying Liu
AU - Xiaoxi Fan
AU - Miao Xu
AU - Ziyan Zhang
AU - Li Zhang
AU - Mingyan Liu
AU - Ting Du
AU - Heran Li
AU - Guojun Liu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/18
JO - Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
DO - 10.1002/advs.78317
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42893501
AB - Blood-brain barrier (BBB) preserves brain homeostasis yet restricts therapeutics; in bacterial meningitis, antibiotics' limited penetration impairs delivery to the parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid, constraining efficacy and motivating strategies to overcome the barrier. To address this, we developed a chiral virus-mimicking mesoporous silica nanostructure (CVSN) functionalized with L-alanine for antibiotic delivery. It offers several distinct advantages: (1) nanoscale dimensions facilitating BBB transport; (2) virus-like morphology enhancing vascular accumulation and penetration, providing a foundation for passive targeting; (3) chiral surface modification conferring active recognition capacity for more efficient biological targeting; and (4) a mesoporous architecture that ensures high drug-loading efficiency and controlled release of drugs. Experimentally, it achieves efficient BBB penetration into the brain parenchyma and shows targeted delivery into microglia and astrocytes. Simulating the loading of cargoes by viruses, it ultimately improves the bioavailability and brain parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid contents of various antibiotics with distinct physicochemical properties, antibacterial spectrum, and BBB penetration capacity, including cefoperazone, norfloxacin, levofloxacin and imipenem. It helps to treat meningitis induced by both Gram-negative bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus) and provides a promising avenue to overcome the limitations imposed by the BBB for CNS infections antibiotic therapy in clinic.
SN - 2198-3844
ER -