Antiquorum sensing activity of silver nanoparticles in P. aeruginosa: an in silico study

Pseudomonas aeruginosa an opportunistic pathogen regulates its virulence through Quorum sensing (QS) mechanism comprising of Las and Rhl system. Targeting of QS mechanism could be an ideal strategy to combat infection caused by P. aeruginosa. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been broadly applied as antimicrobial agents against a number of pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains, but have not been reported as an anti-QS agent. Therefore, the aim of present work was to show the computational analysis for the interaction of AgNPs with the QS system using an In silico approach. In silico studies showed that AgNPs got 'locked' deeply into the active site of respective proteins with their surrounding residues. The molecular docking analysis clearly demonstrated that AgNPs got bound to the catalytic cleft of LasI synthase (Asp73-Ag = 3.1 Å), RhlI synthase (His52-Ag = 2.8 Å), transcriptional receptor protein LasR (Leu159-Ag = 2.3 Å) and RhlR (Trp10-Ag = 3.1 Å and Glu34-Ag = 3.2 Å). The inhibition of LasI/RhlI synthase by AgNPs blocked the biosynthesis of AHLs, thus no AHL produced, no QS occurred. Further, interference with transcriptional regulatory proteins led to the inactivation of LasR/RhlR system that finally blocked the expression of QS-controlled virulence genes. Our findings clearly demonstrate the anti-QS property of AgNPs in P. aeruginosa which could be an alternative approach to the use of traditional antibiotics for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection.