Facet-dependent antibacterial activity of Au nanocrystals

Engineered nanomaterials have attracted significantly attention as one of the most promising antimicrobial agents for against multidrug resistant infections. The toxicological responses of nanomaterials are closely related to their physicochemical properties, and establishment of a structure-activity relationship for nanomaterials at the nano-bio interface is of great significance for deep understanding antibacterial toxicity mechanisms of nanomaterials and designing safer antibacterial nanomaterials. In this study, the antibacterial behaviors of well-defined crystallographic facets of a series of Au nanocrystals, including {100}-facet cubes, {110}-facet rhombic dodecahedra, {111}-facet octahedra, {221}-facet trisoctahedra and {720}-facet concave cubes, was investigated, using the model bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. We find that Au nanocrystals display substantial facet-dependent antibacterial activities. The low-index facets of cubes, octahedra, and rhombic dodecahedra show considerable antibacterial activity, whereas the high-index facets of trisoctahedra and concave cubes remained inert under biological conditions. This result is in stark contrast to the previous paradigm that the high-index facets were considered to have higher bioactivity as compared with low-index facets. The antibacterial mechanism studies have shown that the facet-dependent antibacterial behaviors of Au nanocrystals are mainly caused by differential bacterial membrane damage as well as inhibition of cellular enzymatic activity and energy metabolism. The faceted Au nanocrystals are unique in that they do not induce generation of reactive oxygen species, as validated for most antibiotics and antimicrobial nanostructures. Our findings may provide a deeper understanding of facet-dependent toxicological responses and suggest the complexities of the nanomaterial-cell interactions, shedding some light on the development of high performance Au nanomaterials-based antibacterial therapeutics.     

Polyethylene compounds with antimicrobial surface properties

The present study aims at antimicrobial polyethylene surfaces. To achieve this, LLDPE was compounded with the polymeric biocide poly(2-tert-butylaminoethyl) methacrylate TBAM (bulk modification with 1.5-5.0 wt.% of TBAM). Surfaces of these polymer compounds were then subjected to microbial assays. Using standard methods the colony forming units (CFU) for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were determined on these surfaces. In all cases, polyethylene surfaces with highly antimicrobial properties were achieved. An average reduction of 10⁴ CFU ml⁻¹ compared to neat LLDPE was achieved. The surfaces of these LLDPE/TBAM compounds were assessed by electrokinetic (zeta potential) measurements. The results indicate a relation between the antimicrobial activity and the zeta-potential of the polymer compounds. Moreover, the antimicrobial compounds were investigated towards biofilm formation. Compared to pristine LLDPE, the surfaces of the polymer compounds showed less adhering biofilm after a testing period of 16 weeks.     

STUDIES ON THE PREPARATION OF ZINC-CONTAINING ACTIVATED CARBON FIBERS AND THEIR ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY

1. INTRODUCTION Microbial pollution will bring about various problems in industry and other vital fields, such as causing decomposing of materials, harming people抯 health. In order to reduce these problems, new antibacterial materials have been demanded. Recently, much attention has been paid to inorganic materials including zinc oxide [1~4]. These inorganic antibacterial materials are now substituting for organic materials to avoid releasing noxious organic molecules harmful to humans;…     

Direct Visualization of Electromagnetic Microfields by Superposition of Two Kinds of Electron Holograms

A new electron holographic method is presented to directly visualize pure phase objects such as electromagnetic microfields, which is achieved by superposition of two kinds of electron holograms. The method is very simple and is twice as sensitive as the conventional double-exposure electron holography and the four-electron-wave interference. Using this technique, an electric field around a charged latex sphere and a magnetic field around a barium ferrite particle have been directly observed.     

Antibacterial activity of methylated chitosan and chitooligomer derivatives: Synthesis and structure activity relationships

The purpose of this study was to synthesize series of methylated chitosaccharide derivatives, possessing various degree of methylation, and to determine their structure activity relationship (SAR) with regard to their antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus. Chitosan polymer and chitooligomers were used as starting materials and were methylated by reaction with methyl iodide. Depending on the reaction conditions the degree of N-quaternization ranged from 0% to 74%, with varying degree of N,N-dimethylation, N-monomethylation and O-methylation. More selective N-quaternization could be obtained with protection group strategy. At pH 5.5 the chitosaccharide polymers and their methylated derivatives were active against S. aureus with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 16 to 512 μg/mL. At pH 7.2 the non-quaternized derivatives were inactive but their highly N-quaternized derivatives showed MIC as low as 8 μg/mL. The chitooligomers, as well as their derivatives, were inactive at both pH’s. The SAR studies revealed that N-quaternization was mainly responsible for the antibacterial effects at pH 7.2, whereas it did not contribute to the antibacterial activity under acidic conditions.     

Antibacterial activities of polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinyl pyridine) and poly(styrene-random-4-vinyl pyridine)

Styrene was polymerized in the presence of benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) to yield polystyrene-TEMPO (PS-TEMPO) macroinitiator. The PS-TEMPO macroinitiator with different molecular weight was reacted with 4-vinyl pyridine (4-VP) to synthesize polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-PVP), which was then quaternized with n-octyl iodide. Antibacterial activity of the quaternized copolymers was assessed against a gram negative bacterium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and a gram positive one (Staphylococcus aureus) by using the shake flask test method, and the results were compared with those of poly(styrene-random-4-vinyl pyridine) (P(ST-r--VP)). The quaternized copolymers inhibited greatly the growth of the bacteria, and PS-b-PVP was more active than P(ST-r-VP), which was ascribed to the fact that the content of quaternized 4-VP units on the surface of the particles of the former copolymer was higher than that corresponding to the latter one.     

Iodine-poly(2-vinylpyridine-co-styrene-co-divinylbenzene) charge transfer complexes with antibacterial activity

In this work, we have developed three different copolymers based on 2-vinylpyridine, styrene and crosslinked with divinylbenzene (10-30 mol%). The copolymers were morphologically and chemically characterized by apparent density, swelling degree, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry and optical microscopy. The formation of iodine complexes with these copolymers was carried out by two different procedures: with solvent, or not. The influence of the copolymers structure on the capacity of anchoring iodine has been investigated. The antibacterial properties of polymeric charge transfer complexes were determined towards 10³-10⁷ cells/mL dilutions from the auxotrophic AB1157 Escherichia coli strain.     

Black fungus derived aerogel with double faced properties

Black fungus aerogel (BFA) exhibited interesting double-faced properties. Weexplored the diverse properties of each side of the black fungus in three aspects:water contact angle measurements, liquid selective absorption capacity and air pollutant adsorption abilities.     

Synthesis and biological activity of fluorinated 2-amino-4-aryl-3,4-dihydro[1,3,5]triazino[1,2-a]benzimidazoles

The heterocyclic nucleus s-triazino[1,2-a]benzimidazole has been reported to exhibit antibacterial activity. In this study, seven new 3,4-dihydro[1,3,5]triazino[1,2-a]benzimidazole derivatives were prepared via cyclocondensation between 2-guanidinobenzimidazole and fluorine substituted (including trifluoromethyl) benzaldehydes. The structures of all the compounds were confirmed by ¹H, ¹³C NMR and IR spectral data. Spectral data also suggested the existence of various tautomeric forms of the fluorine-containing s-triazino[1,2-a]benzimidazole compounds. The synthesized compounds were also screened for antibacterial and bovine dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitory activities. The compound 3g substituted with a 3′,5′-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl moiety demonstrated the best antibacterial activity in the series. None of the tested compounds significantly inhibited bovine DHFR.     

Mass, EPR, IR and electronic spectroscopic studies on newly synthesized macrocyclic ligand and its transition metal complexes

Manganese(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes have been synthesized with a new tetradentate ligand viz. 1,3,7,9-tetraaza-2,4,8,10-tetraketo-6,12-diphenyl-cyclododecane (L) and characterized by the elemental analysis, molar conductance measurements, magnetic susceptibility measurements, mass, ¹H NMR, IR, electronic and EPR spectral studies. The molar conductance measurements of the complexes in DMF correspond to be nonelectrolytic nature for Mn(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) while 1:2 electrolytes for Ni(II) complexes. Thus, these complexes may be formulated as [M(L)X₂] and [Ni(L)]X₂ (where M = Mn(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) and X = Cl⁻ and NO₃⁻).On the basis of IR, electronic and EPR spectral studies an octahedral geometry has been assigned for Mn(II) and Co(II) complexes, square-planar for Ni(II) whereas tetragonal for Cu(II) complexes. The ligand and its complexes were also evaluated against the growth of bacteria and pathogenic fungi in vitro.