Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

0009-0004-5935-5049

Advisor

Priddy, Lauren

Committee Member

Elder, Steven

Committee Member

Fitzkee, Nicholas

Committee Member

Jaffe, Michael

Date of Degree

8-12-2026

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 1 year

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Campus Access Only

Major

Biomedical Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Department

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Abstract

Because dense and often impenetrable biofilms impede antibiotics from reaching bacteria, there is a need for alternatives to antibiotic treatments. The objective of this study was to evaluate an alternative form of treatment involving gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) and/or R2ab, a biofilm protein from Staphylococcus epidermidis, in photothermal therapy (PTT). Cytotoxicity testing found no significant effect of the AuNPs (10, 20, and 40 nM concentration) on human cells. Antimicrobial testing of the AuNPs (10 and 30 nM) treated with an 808-nm near-infrared laser against Staphylococcus aureus biofilm showed a significant decrease in bacterial load for all groups except AuNP+R2ab and bare AuNPs at 10 nM. As expected, AuNPs with R2ab showed better binding to the biofilm than groups without R2ab. Additional testing on rat limb tissue showed poor laser penetration. This study illustrates the safety and efficacy of functionalized AuNPs in PTT for future antimicrobial treatments.

Sponsorship (Optional)

National Institutes of Health R56AI139479 and the National Science Foundation E-RISE RII: Establishment of the Mississippi Nano-bio and Immuno-Engineering Consortium (#2414443)

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