Targeted inactivation of bacteriophages by polypyrrole nanoparticles

Paczesny, Jan; Raza, Sada; Korol, Dominik; Ochirbat, Enkhlin; Kamiński, Bartosz; Sharma, Piyush Sindhu; Cieplak, Maciej

Targeted inactivation of bacteriophages by polypyrrole nanoparticles

Abstract

Bacteriophage contamination is a persistent issue in various industrial and medical settings, requiring effective yet selective inactivation strategies. The source of phages may be antibiotics, other additives, or raw substrates. There are no effective methods to protect bacterial cultures against such events. This study proposes polypyrrole nanoparticles functionalized with 1 % carboxyl groups (P(Py:PyCOOH) 100:1 NPs) as a targeted solution for phage inactivation. The P(Py:PyCOOH) 100:1 nanoparticles exhibit selective antiviral properties, with above 95 % inactivation of T4, MS2, and vB_SauS_CS1 phages, while maintaining less than 5 % inactivation of their corresponding bacterial hosts (E. coli and S. aureus). TEM imaging reveals no significant morphological changes in the phages post-treatment, suggesting that inactivation occurs through blocking active sites rather than structural damage. Cytotoxicity studies demonstrate > 90 % viability of 3 T3 NIH fibroblast cells upon exposure to P(Py:PyCOOH) 100:1 nanoparticles, confirming their biocompatibility and safety for potential biomedical applications. Because some phages serve as surrogates for pathogenic viruses, the presented results are the next step towards selective and safe antivirals acting directly on virions.

Keywords

polypyrrole nanoparticle bacteriophage inactivation selective antiviral agent nanoparticle surface functionalization biocompatibility and cytotoxicity

Citation

Sada Raza, Dominik Korol, Enkhlin Ochirbat, Bartosz Kamiński, Maciej Cieplak, Piyush Sindhu Sharma, Jan Paczesny, Targeted inactivation of bacteriophages by polypyrrole nanoparticles, Materials & Design, Volume 260, 2025, 115204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2025.115204