Revealing the mechanism of synergistic antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles in combination with vancomycin against species by fluorescence microscopy visualization.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) significantly enhance the antibacterial activity of antibiotics and even restore their effect against resistant strains, making them a promising option for overcoming bacterial resistance to antibiotics. However, the exact mechanism of their synergistic effect with antibiotics at the cellular level has not been elucidated. In this work, we synthesised rhodamine-labelled Ag NPs and described, for the first time, the multi-level non-specific mechanism of the synergistic antibacterial effect of fluorescently labelled Ag NPs and a fluorescent vancomycin conjugate against vancomycin-resistant enterococci using high-resolution fluorescence microscopy.

Innovative Approaches in Cancer Treatment: Emphasizing the Role of Nanomaterials in Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition.

Medical research is at the forefront of addressing pressing global challenges, including preventing and treating cardiovascular, autoimmune, and oncological diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and the growing resistance of pathogens to antibiotics. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases, using advanced medical approaches and cutting-edge technologies, structure-based drug design, and personalized medicine, is critical for developing effective therapies, specifically anticancer treatments. : One of the key drivers of cancer at the cellular level is the abnormal activity of protein enzymes, specifically serine, threonine, or tyrosine residues, through a process known as phosphorylation.

Silica Aerogels as a Promising Vehicle for Effective Water Splitting for Hydrogen Production.

This comprehensive review explores silica aerogels and their application in environmental remediation. Due to rapid growth in the consumption of energy and water resources, the purification of contaminated resources for use by humankind should be considered important. The primary objectives of this review are to assess the evolving landscape of silica aerogels, their preparation, and drying techniques, and to discuss the main findings from a wide range of empirical studies and theoretical perspectives.

Selective Carbon Dioxide Hydrogenation to Olefin-Rich Hydrocarbons by Cu/FeOx Nanoarchitectures Under Atmospheric Pressure.

The conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels and fine chemicals is a highly desirable route for mitigating flue gas emissions. However, achieving selectivity toward olefins remains challenging and typically requires high temperatures and pressures. Herein, we address this challenge using 12 nm copper nanoparticles supported on FeOx micro-rods, which promote the selective hydrogenation of CO to light olefins (C-C) under atmospheric pressure.

Selenium nanoparticles: influence of reducing agents on particle stability and antibacterial activity at biogenic concentrations.

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have recently attracted attention for their antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Nevertheless, their use remains limited due to stability issues. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of different reaction conditions (including the reducing and stabilizing agents, as well as reaction temperature) on the water dispersion characteristics, stability, and biological activity of SeNPs.

Studies on a Urea-Complexed Iron(III) Dichromate, a Precursor of Chromium-Rich Nanospinel Catalysts Prepared for the Reductive Transformation of Carbon Dioxide.

Energy-saving and cost-efficient reaction routes to prepare highly active catalysts for CO hydrogenation or solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are enormously important. In this paper, we report a detailed study of a dichromate salt of [Fe(urea)], a member of the [(urea)] complex family ( = Fe, Al, Mn, Cr, V, or Ti) with oxidizing anions, which is a promising precursor of a Cr-rich mixed chromium iron oxide catalyst prepared at a low temperature in the solid phase. The single-crystal X-ray structure, various (infrared, ultraviolet-visible, and Raman) spectroscopic studies, and thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis/mass spectrometry) of [hexakis(urea-)iron(III)] dichromate {[Fe(urea-O)](CrO)} and its decomposition products confirmed the presence of a quasi-intramolecular redox reaction between the urea ligands and dichromate anions.

CO Hydrogenation to Methanol over InO Decorated by Metals of the Iron Triad.

The growing concentration of CO in the atmosphere is a serious problem, and efforts to counter this issue are thus highly important. One of the possible approaches to solving this problem is the conversion of waste CO into products with added economic value. Methanol is one of these products with vast potential usage.

E. coli and S. aureus resist silver nanoparticles via an identical mechanism, but through different pathways.

Nanostructured materials with antibacterial activity face the same threat as conventional antibiotics - bacterial resistance, which reduces their effectiveness. However, unlike antibiotics, research into the emergence and mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antibacterial nanomaterials is still in its early stages. Here we show how Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria develop resistance to silver nanoparticles, resulting in an increase in the minimum inhibitory concentration from 1.

NiO Nano- and Microparticles Prepared by Solvothermal Method-Amazing Catalysts for CO Methanation.

Nickel oxide (NiO) is one of the most popular hydrogenation catalysts. In heterogeneous catalysis, nickel oxide is used, for example, as a suitable methanation catalyst in the Fischer-Tropsch reaction not only for CO hydrogenation but also in the modified Fischer-Tropsch reaction with CO. However, CH selectivity and CO conversion strongly depend on NiO micro- (MPs) and nanoparticles' (NPs) shape, size, and surface area.

The influence of surface properties on the cooperative behavior of powdered milks.

This study comprehensively analyzes various powdered milk samples to elucidate their structural, surface, and mechanical properties. Through detailed examination, diverse characteristics among the samples were observed, shedding light on their behavior under different conditions. Notably, findings reveal intriguing insights into surface energy profiles, Harkins spreading coefficient, powder rheological properties, and sound absorption efficiency of the powdered milk samples.

Implications of silver nanoparticles for infection: modulation of CagA function and signaling.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection poses a significant health burden worldwide, and its virulence factor CagA plays a pivotal role in its pathogenesis.

Methods: In this study, the interaction between H. pylori-infected AGS cells and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was investigated, with a focus on the modulation of CagA-mediated responses, investigated by western blotting.

Cyclohexane Oxidative Dehydrogenation on Graphene-Oxide-Supported Cobalt Ferrite Nanohybrids: Effect of Dynamic Nature of Active Sites on Reaction Selectivity.

In this work, we investigated cyclohexane oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) catalyzed by cobalt ferrite nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide (RGO). We aim to identify the active sites that are specifically responsible for full and partial dehydrogenation using advanced spectroscopic techniques such as X-ray photoelectron emission microscopy (XPEEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) along with kinetic analysis. Spectroscopically, we propose that Fe/T sites could exclusively produce benzene through full cyclohexane dehydrogenation, while kinetic analysis shows that oxygen-derived species (O*) are responsible for partial dehydrogenation to form cyclohexene in a single catalytic sojourn.

Effects of different-sized silver nanoparticles on morphological and functional alterations in lung cancer and non-cancer lung cells.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exhibit unique physicochemical properties, making these nanomaterials attractive for various medical applications. Among them, AgNPs have shown great potential in the treatment of cancer by inducing apoptosis in cancer cells, inhibiting tumor growth, and enhancing the efficacy of conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Despite the promising therapeutical advantage of AgNPs, there are several challenges that need to be addressed.

Thermally Induced Solid-Phase Quasi-Intramolecular Redox Reactions of [Hexakis(urea-)iron(III)] Permanganate: An Easy Reaction Route to Prepare Potential (Fe,Mn)O Catalysts for CO Hydrogenation.

Research on new reaction routes and precursors to prepare catalysts for CO hydrogenation has enormous importance. Here, we report on the preparation of the permanganate salt of the urea-coordinated iron(III), [hexakis(urea-)iron(III)]permanganate ([Fe(urea-O)](MnO)) via an affordable synthesis route and preliminarily demonstrate the catalytic activity of its (Fe,Mn)O thermal decomposition products in CO hydrogenation. [Fe(urea-O)](MnO) contains O-coordinated urea ligands in octahedral propeller-like arrangement around the Fe cation.

Restoration of antibacterial activity of inactive antibiotics via combined treatment with a cyanographene/Ag nanohybrid.

The number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains is increasing due to the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics, which are therefore becoming ineffective. Here, we report an effective way of enhancing and restoring the antibacterial activity of inactive antibiotics by applying them together with a cyanographene/Ag nanohybrid, a nanomaterial that is applied for the first time for restoring the antibacterial activity of antibiotics. The cyanographene/Ag nanohybrid was synthesized by chemical reduction of a precursor material in which silver cations are coordinated on a cyanographene sheet.

Specific detection of Staphylococcus aureus infection and marker for Alzheimer disease by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy using silver and gold nanoparticle-coated magnetic polystyrene beads.

Targeted and effective therapy of diseases demands utilization of rapid methods of identification of the given markers. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in conjunction with streptavidin-biotin complex is a promising alternative to culture or PCR based methods used for such purposes. Many biotinylated antibodies are available on the market and so this system offers a powerful tool for many analytical applications.

Crucial cytotoxic and antimicrobial activity changes driven by amount of doped silver in biocompatible carbon nitride nanosheets.

The use of Ag-modified nanomaterials continues to attract attention in biological contamination control, their potential cytotoxicity is often overlooked. Herein, biocompatible carbon nitride is modified with 1 and 5 wt.% Ag and effects of different nanomaterial dose and Ag content on antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity is studied.

Microthermal-induced subcellular-targeted protein damage in cells on plasmonic nanosilver-modified surfaces evokes a two-phase HSP-p97/VCP response.

Despite proteotoxic stress and heat shock being implicated in diverse pathologies, currently no methodology to inflict defined, subcellular thermal damage exists. Here, we present such a single-cell method compatible with laser-scanning microscopes, adopting the plasmon resonance principle. Dose-defined heat causes protein damage in subcellular compartments, rapid heat-shock chaperone recruitment, and ensuing engagement of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, providing unprecedented insights into the spatiotemporal response to thermal damage relevant for degenerative diseases, with broad applicability in biomedicine.

The impact of graphene oxide on androgen receptor signalling in prostate cancer cells.

Androgen receptor (AR) signalling is triggered by androgens that have lipophilic nature. Since it was indicated that graphene oxide (GO) might facilitate passive diffusion of lipophilic compounds probably via Trojan horse-like mechanism, we tested the hypothesis if this suggestion would apply for androgens as well. Thus, we investigated if GO affects dihydrotestosterone (DHT)-triggered signalling of AR in two prostate cancer-derived cell lines, 22Rv1 and LNCaP.

The effect of graphene oxide on signalling of xenobiotic receptors involved in biotransformation.

Graphene oxide (GO) is an engineered nanomaterial which was demonstrated to have outstanding capacity for adsorption of organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the ligands and activators of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Due to the partially overlapping ligand capacity of AhR and pregnane X receptor (PXR), we tested the impact of GO particles on their signalling. While reporter gene assay revealed potentiating effect of GO on ligand-activated AhR-dependent luciferase activity, there was no effect for PXR.

Simple size-controlled synthesis of Au nanoparticles and their size-dependent catalytic activity.

The controlled preparation of Au nanoparticles (NPs) in the size range of 6 to 22 nm is explored in this study. The Au NPs were prepared by the reduction of tetrachloroauric acid using maltose in the presence of nonionic surfactant Tween 80 at various concentrations to control the size of the resulting Au NPs. With increasing concentration of Tween 80 a decrease in the size of produced Au NPs was observed, along with a significant decrease in their size distribution.

Highly efficient silver particle layers on glass substrate synthesized by the sonochemical method for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy purposes.

A fast method for preparing of silver particle layers on glass substrates with high application potential for using in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is introduced. Silver particle layers deposited on glass cover slips were generated in one-step process by reduction of silver nitrate using several reducing agents (ethylene glycol, glycerol, maltose, lactose and glucose) under ultrasonic irradiation. This technique allows the formation of homogeneous layers of silver particles with sizes from 80nm up to several hundred nanometers depending on the nature of the used reducing agent.

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles by Bacillus subtilis T-1 growing on agro-industrial wastes and producing biosurfactant.

In this study, culture supernatnats of Bacillus subtilis T-1 growing on brewery effluents and molasses was used for silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) synthesis. The biosurfactant production of B. subtilis T-1 was confirmed by the detection of genes in the genome and by the identification of the product in the supernatants.

Silver nanoparticles strongly enhance and restore bactericidal activity of inactive antibiotics against multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae.

Bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics is currently one of the most important healthcare issues, and has serious negative impacts on medical practice. This study presents a potential solution to this problem, using the strong synergistic effects of antibiotics combined with silver nanoparticles (NPs). Silver NPs inhibit bacterial growth via a multilevel mode of antibacterial action at concentrations ranging from a few ppm to tens of ppm.