The rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria poses a substantial challenge in clinical settings, particularly with the increasing prevalence of ESKAPE pathogens (E. faecium, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli) as critical MDR bacteria. These ESKAPE pathogens have the capability to undermine antibiotic treatments, leading to a high incidence of drug resistance. However, the development of efficient antibacterial agents against ESKAPE pathogens is still in the bottleneck. Herein, the first example of antibacterial carbon dots against ESKAPE pathogens was reported. Onion powder-based carbon dots were melted with poly(hexamethylene biguanide) hydrochloride (PHMB) to obtain guanidinium-functionalized carbon dots (GCDs), which exhibited satisfactory antibacterial activity against all the tested bacteria, including both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and even ESKAPE pathogens. The efficient antibacterial ability of GCDs derives from the rupture of the bacterial cell membrane and elevated ROS levels. Safety assessments revealed that GCDs neither trigger detectable drug resistance nor exhibit any cytotoxic effects. Furthermore, GCDs effectively promoted wound healing without observable adverse reactions of mixed MDR bacteria-infected wounds in rats. The GCDs also showed excellent long-term stability. These findings indicate that GCDs hold promise as an efficient antibacterial agent for the treatment of MDR strain-caused clinical infected-wound healing.

中文翻译：

---

胍功能化碳点：一种针对多重耐药 ESKAPE 病原体的有效抗菌剂


多重耐药 （MDR） 细菌的兴起在临床环境中构成了重大挑战，特别是随着 ESKAPE 病原体（屎肠球菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、肺炎克雷伯菌、鲍曼不动杆菌、铜绿假单胞菌和大肠杆菌）作为关键的 MDR 细菌的日益流行。这些 ESKAPE 病原体具有破坏抗生素治疗的能力，导致耐药性高发生率。然而，针对 ESKAPE 病原体的高效抗菌剂的开发仍处于瓶颈期。在此，报道了针对 ESKAPE 病原体的抗菌碳点的第一个例子。洋葱粉基碳点与聚六亚甲基双胍盐酸盐 （PHMB） 熔融得到胍功能化碳点 （GCDs），对所有供试细菌均表现出令人满意的抗菌活性，包括革兰氏阳性菌和革兰氏阴性菌，甚至 ESKAPE 病原体。GCD 的有效抗菌能力源于细菌细胞膜的破裂和 ROS 水平升高。安全性评估表明，GCD 既不会触发可检测的耐药性，也不会表现出任何细胞毒作用。此外，GCDs 有效促进了大鼠伤口愈合，且未观察到混合型 MDR 细菌感染伤口的不良反应。GCD 还表现出优异的长期稳定性。这些发现表明，GCD 有望成为治疗 MDR 菌株引起的临床感染伤口愈合的有效抗菌剂。