Guanidine-quaternary ammonium polymer-derived carbon dots differentially modulate bacterial respiration and osteoblast mitochondria to resolve infection and foster osteointegration.
6 affiliations
- 1Department of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
- 2Department of Orthopaedics, The 961th Hospital of the People's Liberation Army Joint Service Support Force, Qiqihar, 161000, China.
- 3Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, China.
- 4Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiao Tong University, Xi'an, 710072, China.
- 5College of Basic Medicine, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, 712046, China.
- 6Military Medical Innovation Center, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
Abstract
Implant-associated infections (IAIs) represent one of the most challenging complications following orthopedic implantation. Current antibacterial strategies struggle to achieve complete pathogen eradication while maintaining sustained osteogenic activity at the implant-bone interface. Leveraging the spatial divergence in energy metabolism between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, we designed and synthesized guanidine-quaternary ammonium polymer-derived carbon dots (GQCDs) with confirmed structure. Under non-infected conditions, GQCDs enhance mitochondrial metabolism to promote bone regeneration. In infected microenvironments, GQCDs not only selectively target bacterial membranes and inhibit the respiratory chain to exert potent antibacterial effects, but also downregulate host inflammatory responses and restore mitochondrial function in osteoblasts, thereby creating a favorable microenvironment for bone repair. GQCDs can be stably integrated onto various clinical implant substrates via a coating process. GQCDs-coated implants possessed the dual antibacterial and osteogenic functionalities, which were validated using in vitro co-culture systems and in vivo implant infection models in rats and beagles, offering a promising strategy with encouraging translational prospects to address IAIs.
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BibTeX
@article{bai2026guanidinequaternary,
title = {{Guanidine-quaternary ammonium polymer-derived carbon dots differentially modulate bacterial respiration and osteoblast mitochondria to resolve infection and foster osteointegration.}},
author = {Xinxin Bai and Anhui Qin and Zhenguo Wang and Guang Kong and Menghan Zhang and Hongyu Li and Rui Zhao and Yue Yu and Yongfeng Zhang and Qi Liu and Ziqing Zhu and Bing Xia and Shengyou Li and Yiming Hao and Mingze Qin and Dong Lei and Lingli Guo and Meijia Su and Zhuojing Luo and Shaohuang Weng and Teng Ma and Jinghui Huang},
journal = {Bioactive materials},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.09.048},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904193},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Guanidine-quaternary ammonium polymer-derived carbon dots differentially modulate bacterial respiration and osteoblast mitochondria to resolve infection and foster osteointegration.
AU - Xinxin Bai
AU - Anhui Qin
AU - Zhenguo Wang
AU - Guang Kong
AU - Menghan Zhang
AU - Hongyu Li
AU - Rui Zhao
AU - Yue Yu
AU - Yongfeng Zhang
AU - Qi Liu
AU - Ziqing Zhu
AU - Bing Xia
AU - Shengyou Li
AU - Yiming Hao
AU - Mingze Qin
AU - Dong Lei
AU - Lingli Guo
AU - Meijia Su
AU - Zhuojing Luo
AU - Shaohuang Weng
AU - Teng Ma
AU - Jinghui Huang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Bioactive materials
DO - 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.09.048
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904193
AB - Implant-associated infections (IAIs) represent one of the most challenging complications following orthopedic implantation. Current antibacterial strategies struggle to achieve complete pathogen eradication while maintaining sustained osteogenic activity at the implant-bone interface. Leveraging the spatial divergence in energy metabolism between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, we designed and synthesized guanidine-quaternary ammonium polymer-derived carbon dots (GQCDs) with confirmed structure. Under non-infected conditions, GQCDs enhance mitochondrial metabolism to promote bone regeneration. In infected microenvironments, GQCDs not only selectively target bacterial membranes and inhibit the respiratory chain to exert potent antibacterial effects, but also downregulate host inflammatory responses and restore mitochondrial function in osteoblasts, thereby creating a favorable microenvironment for bone repair. GQCDs can be stably integrated onto various clinical implant substrates via a coating process. GQCDs-coated implants possessed the dual antibacterial and osteogenic functionalities, which were validated using in vitro co-culture systems and in vivo implant infection models in rats and beagles, offering a promising strategy with encouraging translational prospects to address IAIs.
SN - 2452-199X
ER -