An Activatable Nir Fluorescent/Photoacoustic Probe for Rapid Identification of Β-Lactam-Resistant Bacteria

Abstract

Early detection of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria is essential to curbing the spread of antimicrobial resistance. One of the main mechanisms of AMR is the production of hydrolase, β-lactamase, which can make antibiotics lose their antibacterial activity. Accurate and rapid detection of β-lactamase is crucial o deal with bacterial resistance. Herein, a dual-response probe with near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) and photoacoustics (PA) to rapid detection of β-lactamases (TEM-1) and β-lactam-resistant bacteria (BLRB) was ingeniously designed and developed. The NIRF signal and PA signal of CyPA-L can be fully turned on in the presence of TEM-1 after only 7 min, and also showed high selectivity for TEM-1 among multiple interfering analytes. Notably, a portable PA device with immediate detection (POCT) capability was developed to detect β-lactamase and BLRB through PA signaling of CyPA-L. The design of probe and facile device will provide a new way for the diagnosis and symptomatic treatment of early drug-resistant bacteria.

Keywords: NIR fluorescence, photoacoustic, portable PA device, point-of-care testing, β-lactam-resistant bacteria