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Antimicrobial Gold Nanoclusters.

Kaiyuan Zheng1, Magdiel I Setyawati1, David Tai Leong1

  • 1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore , 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117585.

ACS Nano
|June 9, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (Au NCs), typically under 2 nm, exhibit potent antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This broad-spectrum efficacy stems from their size, enabling enhanced interaction and intracellular reactive oxygen species generation in bacterial cells.

Keywords:
antimicrobial agentsgold nanoclustersmetal nanoparticlesreactive oxygen speciessilver nanoclusters

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Area of Science:

  • Nanotechnology
  • Materials Science
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Bulk gold (Au) is chemically inert.
  • Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) exhibit unique properties when scaled down.
  • Ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (Au NCs, <2 nm) possess distinct physical and chemical characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the antimicrobial potential of ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (Au NCs).
  • To determine if precise size control of Au NPs down to nanocluster dimensions can confer antimicrobial activity.

Main Methods:

  • Synthesizing gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) with precise size control (<2 nm).
  • Testing the antimicrobial efficacy of Au NCs against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
  • Investigating the mechanism of Au NCs' antimicrobial action.

Main Results:

  • Ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
  • The broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity is attributed to the ultrasmall size of Au NCs.
  • Au NCs induce metabolic imbalance and increase intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in bacteria, leading to cell death.

Conclusions:

  • Precise size control of gold nanoparticles to nanocluster dimensions (<2 nm) is crucial for conferring potent antimicrobial properties.
  • Ultrasmall gold nanoclusters represent a promising new class of antimicrobial agents with broad-spectrum activity.
  • The mechanism involves enhanced bacterial interaction, metabolic disruption, and ROS generation by Au NCs.