title: Investigation of antimicrobial activity of photothermal therapeutic gold/copper sulfide core/shell nanoparticles to bacterial spores and cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Au/CuS core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) were designed as a new type of transducer agent for photothermal therapy (PTT), with attractive features of easy preparation, low cost and small size for targeting. This paper studied for the first time the intrinsic antimicrobial activity of Au/CuS NPs to B. anthracis spores and cells in addition to its PTT effect.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that Au/CuS NPs were highly efficient in inactivating B. anthracis cells, but not effective to the spores. Treatment with NPs at ~0.83 μM for 30 min achieved a 7 log reduction in viable cells. The antimicrobial effect was both NPs concentration and treatment time dependent. SEM imaging and the efflux of DNA test demonstrated the damage of cell membrane after NPs treatment, yet further research is necessary to fully understand the precise inactivation mechanism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Au/CuS NPs had strong antimicrobial activity to B. anthracis cells, which showed a great potential to be an effective antimicrobial agent to bacterial cells.
authors: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprises (BRITE), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.
authors: Ebenezer
authors: E
authors: Addae
authors: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprises (BRITE), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.
authors: Xiuli
authors: X
authors: Dong
authors: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprises (BRITE), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: McCoy
authors: Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA ; Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Guiyang Medical College, Guiyang, Guizhou 550004, China.
authors: Chang
authors: C
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprises (BRITE), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.
authors: Liju
authors: L
authors: Yang
keywords: Antimicrobial; Bacillus anthracis; Bioterrorism; Nanoparticles