Photocatalytic Protein Damage by Silver Nanoparticles Circumvents Bacterial Stress Response and Multidrug Resistance.

ABSTRACT: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are known for their broad-spectrum antibacterial properties, especially against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, the bactericidal mechanism of AgNPs remains unclear. In this study, we found that the bactericidal ability of AgNPs is induced by light. In contrast to previous postulates, visible light is unable to trigger silver ion release from AgNPs or to promote AgNPs to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Escherichia coli In fact, we revealed that light excited AgNPs to induce protein aggregation in a concentration-dependent manner in E. coli, indicating that the bactericidal ability of AgNPs relies on the light-catalyzed oxidation of cellular proteins via direct binding to proteins, which was verified by fluorescence spectra. AgNPs li

SUBMITTER: Shi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6495337 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature