Ubiquitous Detection of Gram-negative Bacteria Using Colistin as the Targeting Ligand = Ubiquitous Detection of Gram-negative Bacteria Using Colistin as the Targeting Ligand

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The rapid and differential detection of Gram-negative infections would greatly reduce the overuse of antibiotics, and minimize the spread of antibiotic resistance. However, conventional diagnostics relies on microbial culture which is time-consuming, while molecular methods involve complex processing procedures. Herein, we studied the use of antibiotics as a targeting ligand for ubiquitous detection of Gram-negative bacteria. We chose colistin as the targeting ligand, which includes cationic residues (L-α-γ-diaminobutyric acid) that specifically interact with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on Gram-negative bacteria. We prepared Cy3-conjugated colistin which were added to different types of pathogenic bacteria for incubation. Selective labeling of Gram-negative bacteria was demonstrated by confocal microscopy and spectrofluorometry. Our study presents a rapid and simple labeling procedure, which can be applied in the clinic for diagnosing Gram-negative infections.