Abstract
Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis are two of the most prevalent uro-pathogens and are difficult to treat as they acquire multidrug-resistant traits. In this study, the main objective was to develop biocompatible copper nanoparticles using chicken feather keratin protein (CuNPs-K) and to investigate their impact on multidrug-resistant (MDR) uro-pathogens, E. coli and E. faecalis, under both single and mixed culture conditions. CuNPs-K were characterised by UV–Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and docking experiments. The MIC values of CuNPs-K against single and mixed planktonic cultures were 50 μg/ml and 75 μg/ml, respectively. CuNPs-K efficiently disrupted the biofilm of single and mixed uro-pathogen cultures by eliminating sessile cells. This biofilm disruption may be attributed to a decline in the production of extracellular polymeric substances in both single and mixed bacterial cultures treated with CuNPs-K. Moreover, selective antimicrobial activity was determined by selectivity assays using T24 cells. CuNPs-K targets both the bacterial membrane and DNA with elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) as their bactericidal mode of action. This comprehensive antimicrobial activity of CuNPs-K was further confirmed in vivo by using the zebra fish model. In this study, CuNPs-K effectively reduced bacterial load with increased survivability of infected zebrafish. All these results suggest that CuNPs-K can be explored as an exceptional antibacterial agent against MDR uro-pathogenic E. coli and E. faecalis.
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The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Chancellor, Techno India University, West Bengal for providing the necessary infrastructure and laboratory facilities. The authors are also thankful to Dr. Ritesh Tiwari for supporting flow cytometry facilities at the Centre for Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CRNN), University of Calcutta.
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Banerjee, S., Vishakha, K., Das, S. et al. Oxidative stress, DNA, and membranes targets as modes of antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of facile synthesized biocompatible keratin-copper nanoparticles against multidrug resistant uro-pathogens. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 38, 20 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03187-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03187-z