Investigating the anti-streptococcal biofilm effect of ssDNA aptamer-silver nanoparticles complex on a titanium-based substrate

Streptococcus mutans is a commensal and opportunistic pathogen that causes several diseases by forming a biofilm in humans and animals in many areas such as nasopharyngeal, cardiac valves, lungs, and oral cavity. Biofilms are very important in prosthetic infections associated with medical implants. The use of nanoparticles is one of the evolving fields in biofilm targeting. Silver nanoparticles can be used for biofilm targeting due to their inherent antimicrobial properties. Hybridization of nanoparticles with small molecules increases their biological properties and makes them multifunctional. The present investigation aimed to design an appropriate silver nanoparticles–aptamer complex that binds to the surface receptors of streptococcal strains. For this reason, silver nanoparticles with particle sizes in a range of 50 to 70 nm were synthesized and connected to a designed aptamer with a streptavidin–biotin linker. Then, the effect of the complex was investigated on the S. mutans biofilm formed on the surface of a medical-grade titanium substrate. The silver nanoparticles–aptamer complex at a concentration of 100 μg mL(−1) after 48 h inhibited 43% of the biofilm formation and degraded 63% of the formed biofilm. Also, the cell availability reached 96% and the complex was stable in cell medium culture for 360 min. It was concluded that this complex could be a good candidate for removing the formed biofilms on the surface of titanium implants.