Interaction of silver nitrate with readily identifiable groups: relationship to the antibacterialaction of silver ions

Abstract

Microbiologically it was demonstrated that amino acids, e.g. cysteine (CySH), and othercompounds, e.g. sodium thioglycollate, containing thiol groups neutralized the activity of silvernitrate against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAOl. Amino acids with disulphide bonds wereinactive, with the exception of l‐cystine dimethyl ester, as were all amino acids with nosulphur groups. Iodoacetamide reacted with CySH to produce a CyS–acetamide complex thatwas unable to quench the activity of Ag+. Chemical analyses using cyclic voltammetrydemonstrated that high coordination numbers (3·1) were obtained with thiol‐containingamino acids and low numbers (0·28–0·4) with other amino acids. Bothmicrobiologically and chemically, the results imply that interaction of Ag+ with thiolgroups plays an essential role in bacterial inactivation.

Supramolecular Structures as Carrier Systems Enabling the Use of Metal Ions in Antibacterial Therapy

“…It is confirmed by the results presented in Table 6.1, which show a similar reactivity of silver-sensitive bacteria towards silver, as well as towards Ellman's reagent, which is specific for binding thiol groups. The amino acid found in the wall of bacteria susceptible to the activity of silver is cysteine, with a highly reactive -SH group [35,36].…”

Polysulfone ultrafiltration membranes impregnated with silver nanoparticles show improved biofouling resistance and virus removal

“…Cysteine forms complexes with Ag + released from nAg, making Ag + ions unavailable to act as antimicrobial agents (Silver and Phung, 1996;Liau et al, 1997;Navarro et al, 2008). However, full discernment of the antibacterial role of Ag + may not be possible with this approach because cysteine may also bind to nAg particles and reduce their bioavailability (Santos et al, 2007), which confounds the interpretation of decreased toxicity attributable solely to Ag + complexation.…”

Inhibitory Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on Trypanothione Reductase Activity and Leishmania infantum Proliferation

“…Thus, silver compounds are used as antibacterial agents. 12 Recently, our group demonstrated the ability of Pyrococcus furiosus ferritin (PfFt) to act as a protein template for the production of Ag(0) nanoparticles encapsulated by ferritin molecules (AgNPs). 13 The AgNPs are characterized by a narrow size distribution (2.1 ( 0.4 nm), high stability in water solution at millimolar particle concentrations, and high thermal stability.…”