Synergistic Antimicrobial Effect of Cold Atmospheric Plasma and Redox-Active Nanoparticles
2023
Artem M. Ermakov | Vera A. Afanasyeva | Alexander V. Lazukin | Yuri M. Shlyapnikov | Elizaveta S. Zhdanova | Anastasia A. Kolotova | Artem S. Blagodatski | Olga N. Ermakova | Nikita N. Chukavin | Vladimir K. Ivanov | Anton L. Popov
Cold argon plasma (CAP) and metal oxide nanoparticles are well known antimicrobial agents. In the current study, on an example of <i>Escherichia coli</i>, a series of analyses was performed to assess the antibacterial action of the combination of these agents and to evaluate the possibility of using cerium oxide and cerium fluoride nanoparticles for a combined treatment of bacterial diseases. The joint effect of the combination of cold argon plasma and several metal oxide and fluoride nanoparticles (CeO<sub>2</sub>, CeF<sub>3</sub>, WO<sub>3</sub>) was investigated on a model of <i>E. coli</i> colony growth on agar plates. The mutagenic effect of different CAP and nanoparticle combinations on bacterial DNA was investigated, by means of a blue–white colony assay and RAPD-PCR. The effect on cell wall damage, using atomic force microscopy, was also studied. The results obtained demonstrate that the combination of CAP and redox-active metal oxide nanoparticles (RAMON) effectively inhibits bacterial growth, providing a synergistic antimicrobial effect exceeding that of any of the agents alone. The combination of CAP and CeF<sub>3</sub> was shown to be the most effective mutagen against plasmid DNA, and the combination of CAP and WO<sub>3</sub> was the most effective against bacterial genomic DNA. The analysis of direct cell wall damage by atomic force microscopy showed the combination of CAP and CeF<sub>3</sub> to be the most effective antimicrobial agent. The combination of CAP and redox-active metal oxide or metal fluoride nanoparticles has a strong synergistic antimicrobial effect on bacterial growth, resulting in plasmid and genomic DNA damage and cell wall damage. For the first time, a strong antimicrobial and DNA-damaging effect of CeF<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles has been demonstrated.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Directory of Open Access Journals