Engineered bioactive rosette nanotubes

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20291177

Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have become the gold standard of treatment for serious bacterial infections. However, shortly after, antibiotic-resistant bacteria were discovered and developed rapidly, which caused a global public health problem. It has been proposed and shown that the reason for rising levels of antibiotic resistance is the increased and continuous use of antibiotics. To counter this emergent health problem, many researchers developed alternative and more effective agents with novel antimicrobial properties. For example, metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) were shown to have size-dependent antimicrobial properties. Specifically, MNPs with diameters <10 nm are substantially more potent antibacterial than their larger counterparts. However, synthesis of stable MNPs in this size range is challenging. This dissertation reports on a new class of self-assembled supramolecular rosette nanotubes (RNTs) that can be used as scaffolds to support the synthesis of nearly monodisperse, ultra-small MNPs in aqueous solution, and their investigation as novel antibiotics.