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A novel mechanism for the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles on Escherichia coli

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Abstract

Silver nanoparticles are known to have antimicrobial properties and have been used extensively in medicine, although the mechanism(s) of action have not yet been clearly established. In the present study, the findings suggest a novel mechanism for the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles on Escherichia coli, namely, the induction of a bacterial apoptosis-like response. We propose a possible mechanism for the bacterial apoptosis-like response that includes the following: accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (detected with H2DCFDA staining), increased intracellular calcium levels (detected with Fura-2 AM), phosphatidylserine exposure in the outer membrane (detected with Annexin V) which is the hallmarks of early apoptosis, disruption of the membrane potential [detected with DiBAC4(3)], activation of a bacterial caspase-like protein (detected by FITC-VAD-FMK staining) and DNA degradation (detected with TUNEL assay) which is the hallmarks of late apoptosis in bacterial cells treated with silver nanoparticles. We also performed RecA expression assay with western blotting and observed activation of SOS response to repair the damaged DNA. To summarize, silver nanoparticles are involved in the apoptosis-like response in E. coli and the novel mechanisms which were identified in this study, suggest that silver nanoparticles may be an effective antimicrobial agent with far lower propensity for inducing microbial resistance than antibiotics.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (No. PJ008158), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, BK 21 Plus KNU Creative BioResearch Group, College of Natural Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daehak-ro 80, Buk-gu, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea

    Wonyoung Lee & Dong Gun Lee

  2. Department of Clinical Pathology, Tae Kyeung College, 24, Danbuk-ri, Jain-myeon, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, 712-719, Republic of Korea

    Keuk-Jun Kim

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  1. Wonyoung Lee
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  2. Keuk-Jun Kim
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  3. Dong Gun Lee
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Correspondence to Dong Gun Lee.

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Lee, W., Kim, KJ. & Lee, D.G. A novel mechanism for the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles on Escherichia coli . Biometals 27, 1191–1201 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-014-9782-z

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