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The Efficacy of Silver Carboxylate on Acinetobacter baumannii and Safety in Skeletal Muscle Cells

Undergraduate #4
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Microbiology/Immunology/Virology
Session: 3
Room: Exhibit Hall

Olive Cooper - Tougaloo College
Co-Author(s): Colin Whitaker, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Benjamin Stone, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Liam Connolly, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Sai Allu, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Neel Vishwanath, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Valentin Antoci, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Christopher Born, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Dioscaris Garcia, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI



According to the World Health Organization, the increased presence of pan-resistant strains of bacteria could render antibiotics ineffective.[1] Therefore, formulating antibiotic-independent therapeutics is of utmost importance. Our lab has developed a novel antimicrobial formulation of silver carboxylate suspended in a 95% titanium dioxide (TiO2) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix that exhibits controlled elution of silver carboxylate. This formulation has successfully eliminated biofilm formation and certain multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria.[2,3] The current study aims to find the effectiveness of silver carboxylate against MDR Acinetobacter baumannii and the safety of the coating on human skeletal muscle cells (SkMC). We hypothesize that the multimodal antimicrobial nature of silver carboxylate will combat A. baumannii growth while eliciting minimal harm to SkMC due to its controlled release. Further, SkMC were cultured on 96-well plates at 1e7 cells per well. Cell viability and cytotoxicity were assessed using the MTT and LDH assays, using increased concentrations of silver carboxylate, four common antibiotics, and crude silver formulations. The Kirby Bauer assays at 1e7 CFU/mL assessed bacterial susceptibility to the same conditions and controls by analyzing the zones of inhibition (ZOI) via ImageJ. Dose-response curves were produced. The data shows similar or higher cell viability for 1X silver carboxylate hybrid coating compared to antibiotic and pure silver conditions. Zones of inhibition of A. baumannii were significantly larger for 1X and 10X silver carboxylate than the antibiotics and crude silver formulations. Ultimately, these data suggest that silver carboxylate in lower concentrations is effective against A. baumannii infections and relatively safe for human SkMC. References [1] World Health Organization. (n.d.). Antibiotic resistance. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance [2] Haglin, J. M., Garcia, D. R., Roque, D. L., Spake, C. S. L., Jarrell, J. D., & Born, C. T.(2020). Assessing the efficacy of a silver carboxylate antimicrobial coating on prosthetic liners. JPO Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics, 32(4), 251–257. https://doi.org/10.1097/jpo.0000000000000271 [3] Garza-Cervantes JA,Mendiola-Garza G,de Melo EM,Dugmore TIJ,Matharu AS,Morones- Ramirez JR. Antimicrobial activity of a silver-microfibrillated cellulose biocomposite against susceptible and resistant bacteria. Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 29;10(1):7281. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020- 64127-9.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): This work was supported in part by Diane N. Weiss, The Sipprelle Family Foundation, and the NIH/NIAID under R03AI159776.

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Dioscaris Garcia, dioscaris_garcia@brown.edu

Role: I contributed to the research project by conducting the MTT and LDH assays to assess the cell viability and cytotoxicity of the silver carboxylate coating. I gathered data to analyze the cytotoxicity of the coating formulation on human skeletal muscle cells and compared the collected data with commercially-utilized antibiotics and crude nanoparticle and colloidal silver formulations. I was also responsible for maintaining the human skeletal muscle cell line and culturing the cells on the 96-well plates.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

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