Journal
NANOMATERIALS
Volume 11, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/nano11061621
Keywords
gold nanoparticles; chiral; d-cysteine; antibacterial activity; in vivo
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [32072318, 31601569]
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2017T100375, 2016M600420]
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The study demonstrates that cysteine-functionalized gold nanoparticles have strong antibacterial activity, with d-Au NPs showing the highest efficacy. These chiral Au NPs effectively treat E. coli infections in vivo without disrupting the balance of intestinal microflora.
d-cysteine (d-cys) has been demonstrated to possess an extraordinary antibacterial activity because of its unique steric configuration. However, inefficient antibacterial properties seriously hinder its wide applications. Here, cysteine-functionalized gold nanoparticles (d-/l-Au NPs) were prepared by loading d-/l-cysteine on the surface of gold nanoparticles for the effective inhibition of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in vitro and in vivo, and the effects on the intestinal microflora in mice were explored during the treatment of E. coli infection in the gut. We found that the antibacterial activity of d-/l-Au NPs was more than 2-3 times higher than pure d-cysteine, l-cysteine and Au NPs. Compared with l-Au NPs, d-Au NPs showed the stronger antibacterial activity, which was related to its unique steric configuration. Chiral Au NPs showed stronger destructive effects on cell membrane compared to other groups, which further leads to the leakage of the cytoplasm and bacterial cell death. The in vivo antibacterial experiment illustrated that d-Au NPs displayed impressive antibacterial activity in the treatment of E. coli-infected mice comparable to kanamycin, whereas they could not affect the balance of intestinal microflora. This work is of great significance in the development of an effective chiral antibacterial agent.
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