EAPSI: Antimicrobial effects of gold and silver nanoparticles

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Bacterial contamination affects industrial processes, food processing equipment, biomaterials, and other biomedical contamination. The ability to control bacterial adhesion on surfaces and to kill harmful bacteria requires that new methodologies are developed. Over the last decades, the resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antimicrobial agents has become a major challenge. A novel approach would be to use a new class of nano-antibiotics, which can kill bacteria without promoting antimicrobial resistance. The goal of this project is to study how silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can be exploited as antibacterial agents. Among different metals, silver is known for its antibacterial and growth inhibitory effects. Gold does not show any bactericidal effect in bulk amount. However at the nanoscale, gold NPs in a certain size range have some unique properties that make them good candidates for killing bacteria through pore formation in bacterial membranes. A great benefit of this research is that since AgNPs and AuNPs kill bacteria through membrane-associated processes, there is a low likelihood of bacteria being able to develop a resistance to their actions. This project will be conducted under supervision of Dr. Jonghoon Choi, a noted expert on nano-biotechnology, at Hanyang University in Korea.In this project the antimicrobial effect of gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs) on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Escherichia coli (E. coli) will be characterized. NP solutions of varying sizes and concentrations will be prepared. Morphology and size of NPs will be characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and light scattering. Electrostatic charge of NPs will be characterized via zeta potential measurements. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of NPs on E. coli and S. aureus will be determined by using plate counting and growth rate experiments. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Korea.