Role of the Human Serum Albumin Protein Corona in the Antimicrobial and Photothermal Activity of Metallic Nanoparticles against Escherichia coli Bacteria

Abstract

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become a major public health concern, leading to growing interest in alternative antimicrobial agents. The antibacterial activity of metal nanoparticles (NPs) has been extensively studied, showing that they can effectively inhibit the growth of various bacteria, including both Gram-positive and -negative strains. The presence of a protein corona, formed by the adsorption of proteins onto the NP surface in biological fluids, can significantly affect their toxicity. Understanding the effect of the protein corona on the antimicrobial activity of metal NPs is crucial for their effective use as antimicrobial agents. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of noble metal NPs, such as platinum (Pt), silver (Ag), and gold (Au) with and without the human serum albumin (HSA) protein corona against Escherichia coli strains, was investigated. In addition, the plasmonic photothermal effect related to AuNPs, which resulted to be the most biocompatible compared to the other considered metals, was evaluated. The obtained results suggest that the HSA protein corona modulated the antimicrobial activity exerted by the metal NPs against E. coli bacteria. These findings may pave the way for the investigation and development of innovative nanoapproaches to face antibiotic resistance emergence.

Unveiling the Modification of Esterase-like Activity of Serum Albumin by Nanoplastics and Their Cocontaminants

“…Studies had been done to determine how varied NP sizes and surface charges affected the structural changes in serum proteins. − However, they did not inquire how they affect the proteins’ activities. This calls for a thorough investigation into how the surface charge (plain, amine, and carboxylated) and size (lowest: 100 nm, highest: 500 nm) of NPs affect the enzyme activity of HSA.…”

Synergistic antibacterial attributes of copper-doped polydopamine nanoparticles: an insight into photothermal enhanced antibacterial efficacy

“…Metal nanoparticles have been proposed as promising candidates for antimicrobial agents. Not only do they possess the ability to induce microbial death or limit growth, but they also exhibit unique physicochemical properties, including a high surface area-to-volume ratio, reactivity, and stability [24,25].…”

Glasses with biocompatible Au/Ag NPs of governed composition

“…In recent decades, interest in the biological and biomedical uses of NPs has increased sharply. In addition to their SERS and fluorescence applicability for biosensing [8] this is due to the already reported applications in therapy [9] and their antimicrobial activity [10]. The latter, combined with the increase in bacterial species resistant to antibiotics [11] forces biocompatibility and biotoxicity studies to be conducted.…”

“…Because of this, biocompatible gold NPs [17,18] are in a wider use for biological objects. Besides, it has recently been shown that the toxicity of gold, silver and platinum NPs can be significantly influenced by proteins contained in surrounding biological fluids [10].…”