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. 2019 Oct 1;15(10):2142-2148.
doi: 10.1166/jbn.2019.2829.

Exploration of Copper-Cysteamine Nanoparticles as a New Type of Agents for Antimicrobial Photodynamic Inactivation

Exploration of Copper-Cysteamine Nanoparticles as a New Type of Agents for Antimicrobial Photodynamic Inactivation

Liyi Huang et al. J Biomed Nanotechnol. .

Abstract

Copper-cysteamine (Cu-Cy) nanoparticles (NPs) are a new type of sensitizers that can be activated by UV light, X-rays, microwaves and ultrasound to produce reactive oxygen species for cancer treatment. Here, for the first time, we explored Cu-Cy NPs for bacteria inactivation by treating gram-positive bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii), respectively. The results show that Cu-Cy NPs are very effective in killing gram-positive bacteria but are quite limited in killing gram-negative bacteria yet. The major killing mechanism is cell damage by singlet oxygen and Cu-Cy NPs are potential agents for bacteria inactivation.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The TEM images of Cu-Cy nanoparticles. The particle size is about 100 nm.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The picture of the samples at room light (top left) and under a UV light (top right) as well as the emission spectra of Cu-Cy nanoparticles in water (bottom).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Absorption spectrum of Cu-Cy nanoparticles in aqueous solution.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Production of H2O2 from UVA (360 nm) illuminated Cu-Cy NPs and inhibition by azide. Cu-Cy was used at 10 µM and azide at 50 mM. After each incremental dose of light an aliquot of the reaction mixture was removed and added to the Amplex red reagent.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
aPDI killing curves of gram-positive bacteria incubated with increasing concentrations of Cu-Cy NPs and irradiated or not with 10 J/cm2 of UVA light. (A) Gram-positive MRSA; (B) gram-positive E. faecalis.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
aPDI killing curves of gram-negative bacteria incubated with increasing concentrations of Cu-Cy NPs and irradiated or not with 10 J/cm2 of UVA light. (A) Gram-negative E. coli; (B) gram-negative A. baumannii.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
A schematic illustration of copper cysteamine nanoparticles as a new type of agents for photodynamic inactivation of bacteria and infectious diseases by producing reactive oxygen species for bacterial destruction.

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