With the dramatic consequences of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, nanomaterials and molecular transporters have started to be investigated as alternative antibacterials or anti-infective carrier systems to improve the internalization of bactericidal drugs. However, the capability of nanomaterials/molecular transporters to overcome the bacterial cell envelope is poorly understood. It is critical to consider the sophisticated architecture of bacterial envelopes and reflect how nanomaterials/molecular transporters can interact with these envelopes, being the major aim of this review. The first part of this manuscript overviews the permeability of bacterial envelopes and how it limits the internalization of common antibiotic and novel oligonucleotide drugs. Subsequently we critically discuss the mechanisms that allow nanomaterials/molecular transporters to overcome the bacterial envelopes, focusing on the most promising ones to this end – siderophores, cyclodextrins, metal nanoparticles, antimicrobial/cell-penetrating peptides and fusogenic liposomes. This review may stimulate drug delivery and microbiology scientists in designing effective nanomaterials/molecular transporters against bacterial infections.

随着细菌对抗生素产生耐药性的巨大后果，人们开始研究纳米材料和分子转运蛋白，作为替代的抗菌剂或抗感染载体系统，以改善杀菌药物的内在化。然而，人们对纳米材料/分子转运蛋白克服细菌细胞包膜的能力了解甚少。至关重要的是考虑细菌包膜的复杂结构并反映纳米材料/分子转运蛋白如何与这些包膜相互作用，这是本综述的主要目的。该手稿的第一部分概述了细菌包膜的渗透性，以及它如何限制常见抗生素和新型寡核苷酸药物的内在化。随后，我们批判性地讨论了允许纳米材料/分子转运蛋白克服细菌包膜的机制，重点是为此目的最有希望的那些-铁载体，环糊精，金属纳米颗粒，抗微生物/穿透细胞的肽和融合脂质体。这篇综述可能会刺激药物传递和微生物学科学家设计出有效的纳米材料/分子转运蛋白来抵抗细菌感染。