Isoniazid, the choice antitubercular agent, has only been employed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study evaluated if the enzyme-mimetic activities of magnetic nanoparticles could accelerate the activation process of isoniazid against mycobacterial and, more importantly, non-mycobacterial microorganisms. First, magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and coated by lipoamino acid; then, isoniazid was conjugated to synthesized nanoparticles. Antibacterial activities of nanoconjugated isoniazid were evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and four Gram-positive and Gram-negative nonmycobacterial strains through a microdilution broth process. Results showed that the required amount of isoniazid against Mycobacterium tuberculosis would decrease to 44.8% and 16.7% in conjugation with naked and surface-modified magnetic nanoparticles, respectively. Also, 32 μg/mL and 38 μg/mL of isoniazid in conjugation with naked and surface-modified nanoparticles, respectively, could prevent the growth of Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Hence, the vicinity of magnetic nanoparticles with isoniazid could declare promising aspects of isoniazid antibacterial capabilities.

Background: Magnetic cell immobilization has been introduced as a novel, facile and highly efficient approach for cell separation. A stable attachment between bacterial cell wall with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) would enable the microorganisms to be affected by an outer magnetic field. At high concentrations, SPIONs produce reactive oxygen species in cytoplasm, which induce apoptosis or necrosis in microorganisms. Choosing a proper surface coating could cover the defects and increase the efficiency. Methods: In this study, asparagine, APTES, lipo-amino acid and PEG surface modified SPIONs was synthesized by co-precipitation method and characterized by FTIR, TEM, VSM, XRD, DLS techniques. Then, their protective effects against four Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains including Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were examined through microdilution broth and compared to naked SPION. Results: The evaluation of characterization results showed that functionalization of magnetic nanoparticles could change their MS value, size and surface charges. Also, the microbial analysis revealed that lipo-amino acid coated magnetic nanoparticles has the least adverse effect on microbial strain among tested SPIONs. Conclusion: This study showed lipo-amino acid could be considered as the most protective and even promotive surface coating, which is explained by its optimizing effect on cell penetration and negligible reductive effects on magnetic properties of SPIONs. lipo-amino acid coated magnetic nanoparticles could be used in microbial biotechnology and industrial microbiology.