Qualitative Alterations of Bacterial Metabolome after Exposure to Metal Nanoparticles with Bactericidal Properties: A Comprehensive Workflow Based on ¹H NMR, UHPLC-HRMS, and Metabolic Databases

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) have proven to be more toxic than bulk analogues of the same chemical composition due to their unique physical properties. The NPs, lately, have drawn the attention of researchers because of their antibacterial and biocidal properties. In an effort to shed light on the mechanism through which the bacteria elimination is achieved and the metabolic changes they undergo, an untargeted metabolomic fingerprint study was carried out on Gram-positive (<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>) and Gram-negative (<i>Escherichia coli</i>) bacteria species. The ¹H NMR spectroscopy, in conjunction with high resolution mass-spectrometry (HRMS) and an unsophisticated data processing workflow were implemented. The combined NMR/HRMS data, supported by an open-access metabolomic database, proved to be efficacious in the process of assigning a putative annotation to a wide range of metabolite signals and is a useful tool to appraise the metabolome alterations, as a consequence of bacterial response to NPs. Interestingly, not all the NPs diminished the intracellular metabolites; bacteria treated with iron NPs produced metabolites not present in the nonexposed bacteria sample, implying the activation of previously inactive metabolic pathways. In contrast, copper and iron–copper NPs reduced the annotated metabolites, alluding to the conclusion that the metabolic pathways (mainly alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, beta-alanine metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and arginine and proline metabolism) were hindered by the interactions of NPs with the intracellular metabolites

Qualitative Alterations of Bacterial Metabolome after Exposure to Metal Nanoparticles with Bactericidal Properties: A Comprehensive Workflow Based on ¹H NMR, UHPLC-HRMS, and Metabolic Databases

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) have proven to be more toxic than bulk analogues of the same chemical composition due to their unique physical properties. The NPs, lately, have drawn the attention of researchers because of their antibacterial and biocidal properties. In an effort to shed light on the mechanism through which the bacteria elimination is achieved and the metabolic changes they undergo, an untargeted metabolomic fingerprint study was carried out on Gram-positive (<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>) and Gram-negative (<i>Escherichia coli</i>) bacteria species. The ¹H NMR spectroscopy, in conjunction with high resolution mass-spectrometry (HRMS) and an unsophisticated data processing workflow were implemented. The combined NMR/HRMS data, supported by an open-access metabolomic database, proved to be efficacious in the process of assigning a putative annotation to a wide range of metabolite signals and is a useful tool to appraise the metabolome alterations, as a consequence of bacterial response to NPs. Interestingly, not all the NPs diminished the intracellular metabolites; bacteria treated with iron NPs produced metabolites not present in the nonexposed bacteria sample, implying the activation of previously inactive metabolic pathways. In contrast, copper and iron–copper NPs reduced the annotated metabolites, alluding to the conclusion that the metabolic pathways (mainly alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, beta-alanine metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and arginine and proline metabolism) were hindered by the interactions of NPs with the intracellular metabolites

Carbonization of Human Fingernails: Toward the Sustainable Production of Multifunctional Nitrogen and Sulfur Codoped Carbon Nanodots with Highly Luminescent Probing and Cell Proliferative/Migration Properties

A simple yet effective method is employed to prepare multifunctional fluorescent carbon nanodots (CNDs) from human fingernails. The results demonstrate that the CNDs have excellent optical properties and a quantum yield of 81%, which is attributed to the intrinsic composition of the precursor material itself. The CNDs are used to develop an ultrasensitive fluorescent probe for the detection of hexavalent chromium (limit of detection: 0.3 nM) via a combined inner-filter and static mechanism. Moreover, the toxicity of the CNDs over four epithelial cell lines is assessed. A negligible toxicity is induced on the three of the cell lines, whereas an increase in HEK-293 cell viability is demonstrated, granting cell proliferation properties to the as-synthesized CNDs. According to cell cycle analysis, cell proliferation is achieved by enhancing the transition of cells from the S phase to the G2/M one. Interestingly, CNDs are found to significantly promote cell migration, maybe because of their free-radical scavenging ability, making the CNDs suitable for wound healing applications. In addition, relevant experiments have revealed the blood compatibility of the CNDs. Finally, the CNDs were found suitable for cell imaging applications, and all of the aforementioned merits make it possible for them to be used for extraordinary, more advanced biological applications