Antibacterial Nanomaterials: Mechanisms, Impacts on Antimicrobial Resistance and Design Principles

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest threats to the environment and health. AMR rapidly invalidates conventional antibiotics, and antimicrobial nanomaterials have been increasingly explored as alternatives. Interestingly, several antimicrobial nanomaterials show AMR‐independent antimicrobial effects without detectable new resistance and have therefore been suggested to prevent AMR evolution. In contrast, some are found to trigger the evolution of AMR. Given these seemingly conflicting findings, a timely discussion of the two faces of antimicrobial nanomaterials is urgently needed. This review systematically compares the killing mechanisms and structure‐activity relationships of antibiotics and antimicrobial nanomaterials. We then focus on nano‐microbe interactions to elucidate the impacts of molecular initiating events on AMR evolution. Finally, we provide an outlook on future antimicrobial nanomaterials and propose design principles for the prevention of AMR evolution.

Iodinene Nanosheet-to-Iodine Molecule Allotropic Transformation for Antibiosis

“…Taken together, the possible antibacterial mechanism against different bacteria induced by iodinene could be summarized as the following: (i) the destruction of bacterial cell wall/membrane structures inducing the leakage of bacterial contents predominantly for the G– bacteria; (ii) attack on active sites of amino acids causing protein denaturation; (iii) disruption of the internal redox homeostasis for E. coli . These three modalities are supposed as the downstream pathways involved in the sterilization of iodinene, and we also postulate that the aggregation behavior of iodinene NSs inside or outside bacteria varies with the type of bacterium, which leads to the varied action sites and antibacterial performance of the released iodine. , …”

“…These three modalities are supposed as the downstream pathways involved in the sterilization of iodinene, and we also postulate that the aggregation behavior of iodinene NSs inside or outside bacteria varies with the type of bacterium, which leads to the varied action sites and antibacterial performance of the released iodine. 43,44 Biocompatibility is one of the key points in the study of nanomedicine for clinical applications. The cytotoxicity of iodinene was investigated via the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay.…”

Recent advances in nanomaterial-mediated bacterial molecular action and their applications in wound therapy

“…In particular, small-size nanomaterials, including noble metal NPs, QDs, and MOFs could enter bacterial cells by internalizing and transmembrane. 117,118 After attaching to the bacterial membrane, nanoparticles can cross the bacterial membrane. 119 Then, nanomaterials could target DNA, proteins, ribosome, etc.…”

Improving chitosan properties through ionic and chemical cross‐linking and their impact on emulsified systems

“…It is biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic (GRAS) and presents antimicrobial and antioxidant properties (Picone & Cunha, 2013;Lopes et al, 2021). The CS antioxidant mechanism is based on the interaction of freefunctional groups of CS (amino and hydroxyl groups) with oxygen radicals which act by catalysing lipid oxidation (Xie et al, 2023). CS antimicrobial action is not fully understood, but the most accepted hypothesis relies on the interaction of CS positively charged amine groups (NH 3 + ) of glucosamine with the negatively charged surface of bacteria, causing leakage of intracellular constituents (Rhim et al, 2006;Mazaheri et al, 2014;Kritchenkov et al, 2021).…”

“…CS antimicrobial action is not fully understood, but the most accepted hypothesis relies on the interaction of CS positively charged amine groups (NH 3 + ) of glucosamine with the negatively charged surface of bacteria, causing leakage of intracellular constituents (Rhim et al, 2006;Mazaheri et al, 2014;Kritchenkov et al, 2021). However, its commercial use as a preservative is still limited due to its modest antibacterial and antifungal activity which can be overcome by its nano aggregation due to the increasing its surface area per volume and thus greater chemical reactivity (Xie et al, 2023).…”