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Irradiation with visible light enhances the antibacterial toxicity of silver nanoparticles produced by laser ablation

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An Erratum to this article was published on 31 March 2016

Abstract

The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a rapidly growing global health concern. According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths per year occur in the USA due to antibiotic resistance. In recent years, there has been a surge in the use of metal nanoparticles as coatings for orthopedic implants, wound dressings, and food packaging, due to their antimicrobial properties. In this report, we demonstrate that the antibacterial efficacy of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is enhanced with exposure to light from the visible spectrum. We find that the increased toxicity is due to augmented silver ion release and bacterial uptake. Interestingly, silver ion toxicity does not appear to depend on the formation of reactive oxygen species. Our findings provide a novel paradigm for using light to regulate the toxicity of AgNPs which may have a significant impact in the development of new antimicrobial therapeutics.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF awards CMMI-0922946 to D.B. and CMMI-1300920 to D.B. and S.O’M.) and a Busch Biomedical Research Grant to E.K. and S.O’M.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Physics Department, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, NJ, 08102, USA

      Matthew Ratti, J. J. Naddeo, Yuying Tan, Julianne C. Griepenburg, John Tomko, Cory Trout, Sean M. O’Malley & Daniel M. Bubb

    2. Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, NJ, 08102, USA

      Sean M. O’Malley, Daniel M. Bubb & Eric A. Klein

    3. Biology Department, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, NJ, 08102, USA

      Eric A. Klein

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    1. Matthew Ratti
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    Correspondence to Eric A. Klein.

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    Matthew Ratti and J. J. Naddeo have contributed equally to this work.

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    Ratti, M., Naddeo, J.J., Tan, Y. et al. Irradiation with visible light enhances the antibacterial toxicity of silver nanoparticles produced by laser ablation. Appl. Phys. A 122, 346 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-016-9935-8

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-016-9935-8

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