title: Characterisation and cooperative antimicrobial properties of chitosan/nano-ZnO composite nanofibrous membranes.
abstract: Chitosan was combined with nano-ZnO to increase its antimicrobial activity, using polyvinyl alcohol as a support, and then were electronspun to form composite nanofibres. Through SEM, EDX and XRD observations, chitosan was seen to be able to incorporate nano-ZnO in the composite nanofibres. Escherichia coli, expressing recombinant enhanced green fluorescent protein, and Candida albicans were used to test the antimicrobial efficacy of the newly synthesised chitosan/nano-ZnO antimicrobial composite. The CdTe quantum dots were used to rapidly detect the residual changes of C. albicans and determine the end point of using antimicrobial agents. Minimal minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), post-antibiotic effect and continuous agent effect of the composite were determined. The MIC of chitosan/nano-ZnO against C. albicans was 160μg/ml, close to the concentration of the treated composite with the lowest fluorescence intensity. The cell damage was observed by SEM, which indicated that nano-ZnO in the nanofibrous membranes played a cooperative role in the antimicrobial process of chitosan.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, No. 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, No. 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, People's Republic of China; College of Tea and Food Science, Anhui Agriculture University, No. 130 West Changjiang Road, Hefei 230036, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, No. 1 Weigang Road, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chen-Lu
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, No. 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, People's Republic of China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: liping01@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D048271:Chitosan / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D048271:Chitosan; D015034:Zinc Oxide
keywords: Antimicrobial composite; CdTe quantum dots; Chitosan; Fluorescence intensity; Nano-ZnO