Selenium Silk Nanostructured Films with Antifungal and Antibacterial Activity

Abstract

The rapid emergence of drug-resistant bacteria and fungi poses a threat for healthcare worldwide. The development of novel effective small molecule therapeutic strategies in this space has remained challenging. Therefore, one orthogonal approach is to explore biomaterials with physical modes of action that have the potential to generate antimicrobial activity and, in some cases, even prevent antimicrobial resistance. Here, to this effect, we describe an approach for forming silk-based films that contain embedded selenium nanoparticles. We show that these materials exhibit both antibacterial and antifungal properties while crucially also remaining highly biocompatible and noncytotoxic toward mammalian cells. By incorporating the nanoparticles into silk films, the protein scaffold acts in a 2-fold manner; it protects the mammalian cells from the cytotoxic effects of the bare nanoparticles, while also providing a template for bacterial and fungal eradication. A range of hybrid inorganic/organic films were produced and an optimum concentration was found, which allowed for both high bacterial and fungal death while also exhibiting low mammalian cell cytotoxicity. Such films can thus pave the way for next-generation antimicrobial materials for applications such as wound healing and as agents against topical infections, with the added benefit that bacteria and fungi are unlikely to develop antimicrobial resistance to these hybrid materials.

Selenium-silk microgels as antifungal and antibacterial agents

“…We were able to control nanoparticle size by varying the sodium selenite concentration, with sizes ranging from roughly 60 to 140 nm. 41 The ability to finetune nanoparticle size is of critical importance in biological applications as it can impact cellular interactions and the corresponding pharmacokinetics. 42,43 The SeNPs were found to have uniform shapes and morphologies that make them easy to integrate into materials for delivery applications (ESI, † Fig.…”

Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Selenium Nanoparticles against Food-Borne Pathogens

“…In this study, we chose to use vitamin C to reduce Na 2 SeO 3 , and BSA as a capping and stabilizing agent, to produce SeNPs for three main reasons. Firstly, it is a simple, fast, and productive method without the need for specific equipment [ 4 , 6 , 30 , 43 ]. Secondly, the size of the SeNPs can be controlled by adjusting the molar ratio of the two reactants, vitamin C and Na 2 SeO 3 , and the speed at which the reaction is stirred [ 30 ].…”

“…SeNPs have been shown to exhibit antibacterial activity against a wide range of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi [ 2 , 4 , 8 , 10 , 27 , 28 , 43 , 46 ]; however, our study is the first one that examined the antibacterial effect of SeNPs synthesized by vitamin C reduction of Na 2 SeO 3 against as many as 10 common food-borne bacteria, and also utilized SEM to help elucidate the possible mechanisms of the antibacterial action of SeNPs. Among the 10 test bacteria selected for the present study, the SeNPs showed the strongest effect against Listeria monocytogens (ATCC15313), with a 50% inhibition at 1 µg /mL, which reached ~80% inhibition at 10 µg/mL.…”

Emerging alternatives to traditional anthelmintics: the in vitro antiparasitic activity of silver and selenium nanoparticles, and pomegranate (Punica granatum) peel extract against Haemonchus contortus

“…AgNPs are known to have strong antimicrobial and antifungal properties, and studies have shown that they can disrupt cellular processes and metabolic pathways in a wide range of microorganisms and fungi (Anees Ahmad et al 2020 ; Bruna et al 2021 ; de Lacerda Coriolano et al 2021 ; Nadhe et al 2019 ). Similarly, SeNPs have been shown to have antifungal and antiviral effects, suggesting that they, too, may interfere with essential cellular processes (Ferro et al 2021 ; Sharmin et al 2021 ; Toprakcioglu et al 2023 ). In addition, both AgNPs and SeNPs have been shown to induce oxidative stress and increase the production of reactive oxygen species, which can trigger cell death pathways (Afifi and Oshiba 2018 ; Ferro et al 2021 ; Gad et al 2021 ; KD and Venugopal 2022 ; Lin et al 2021 ; Martínez-Esquivias et al 2021 ; Rashidi et al 2022 ; Vahdati and Tohidi Moghadam 2020 ).…”