Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Chirality in Nature

Chirality in Nature

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.

Chirality

Chirality

Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Construction and validation of a predictive nomogram model for invasive fungal infections in sepsis patients with severe pneumonia in the ICU.

Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology·2026

Same author

Correction to "Multienzyme Active Nanozyme for Efficient Sepsis Therapy through Modulating Immune and Inflammation Inhibition".

ACS applied materials & interfaces·2026

Same author

Marginal Contrast Saturation-Based Intraoperative Scoring System Predicts Objective Response to DEB-TACE: Development and Validation of a CBCT-Derived Real-Time Score.

Cancer medicine·2026

Same author

Predicting preoperative axillary lymph node metastasis to guide surgical decisions in invasive breast cancer.

Frontiers in oncology·2026

Same author

Work Function Engineering of MXene-Based Cocatalyst Through Transition-Metal-Ion Intercalation for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

ChemSusChem·2026

Same author

Compartmentalized co-cultivation and temporal transcriptomics reveal SexM-mediated crosstalk between pheromone signaling and metabolic reprogramming in the industrial carotenoid producer Blakeslea trispora.

Genomics·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activities of Nanoparticles and Nanostructured Surfaces In Vitro

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activities of Nanoparticles and Nanostructured Surfaces In Vitro

Published on: April 21, 2023

Chiral Nanoparticle as a New Efficient Antimicrobial Nanoagent.

Qi Xin¹, Qian Liu¹, Lingling Geng²

¹CAS Center of Excellence for Nanoscience, CAS Key Laboratory for Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 11 Beiyitiao Zhongguancun, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.

Advanced Healthcare Materials

|December 28, 2016

Summary

Chiral functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) show high affinity for MurD ligase, inhibiting bacterial peptidoglycan synthesis and causing bacterial death. The L-type NPs had minimal impact, highlighting chirality's importance in antibacterial activity.

Keywords:

antimicrobial chirality graphene quantum dots nanoparticles selective toxicity

More Related Videos

Synthesis of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes Modified with Silver Nanoparticles and Evaluation of Their Antibacterial Activities and Cytotoxic Properties

Synthesis of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes Modified with Silver Nanoparticles and Evaluation of Their Antibacterial Activities and Cytotoxic Properties

Published on: May 10, 2018

Author Spotlight: An Antimicrobial Fabric Using Nano-Herbal Encapsulation of Essential Oils

Author Spotlight: An Antimicrobial Fabric Using Nano-Herbal Encapsulation of Essential Oils

Published on: April 7, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activities of Nanoparticles and Nanostructured Surfaces In Vitro

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activities of Nanoparticles and Nanostructured Surfaces In Vitro

Published on: April 21, 2023

Synthesis of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes Modified with Silver Nanoparticles and Evaluation of Their Antibacterial Activities and Cytotoxic Properties

Synthesis of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes Modified with Silver Nanoparticles and Evaluation of Their Antibacterial Activities and Cytotoxic Properties

Published on: May 10, 2018

Author Spotlight: An Antimicrobial Fabric Using Nano-Herbal Encapsulation of Essential Oils

Author Spotlight: An Antimicrobial Fabric Using Nano-Herbal Encapsulation of Essential Oils

Published on: April 7, 2023

Area of Science:

Nanotechnology
Microbiology
Biochemistry

Background:

Peptidoglycan synthesis is crucial for bacterial cell wall integrity.
MurD ligase is a key enzyme in the peptidoglycan biosynthetic pathway.
Targeting essential bacterial enzymes offers a strategy for developing novel antibiotics.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the antibacterial activity of d-type and L-type functionalized nanoparticles (NPs).
To determine the role of nanoparticle chirality in targeting the MurD ligase enzyme.
To explore the potential of chiral NPs as inhibitors of bacterial growth.

Main Methods:

Synthesis and functionalization of d-type and L-type nanoparticles.
Assay of nanoparticle binding affinity to MurD ligase.
Measurement of MurD ligase enzyme activity inhibition.
Assessment of bacterial killing efficacy.

Main Results:

D-type functionalized NPs exhibited high affinity binding to MurD ligase.
D-type NPs effectively inhibited MurD ligase activity, leading to bacterial cell death.
L-type functionalized NPs showed negligible binding and antibacterial effect.
The chiral structure of NPs is critical for MurD ligase interaction and antibacterial action.

Conclusions:

Chirality of functionalized nanoparticles dictates their interaction with MurD ligase.
D-type NPs represent a promising class of compounds for targeting bacterial peptidoglycan synthesis.
Nanoparticle-based inhibition of MurD offers a potential new avenue for antibacterial drug development.