Scholarlink

<p>Microbial resistance and biofilm formation represent critical global health threats, necessitating the development of innovative, eco-friendly antimicrobial platforms. This study reports the first-ever green synthesis of a selenium/chitosan nanocomposite (Se/CS) bio-augmented with secondary metabolites from the Red Sea soft coral, <i>Litophyton mollis</i>. The Se/CS platform was comprehensively characterized via UV-Vis, FT-IR, XRD, and TEM, confirming the formation of stable, spherical nanoparticles (37–45&#xa0;nm) with a strong positive surface charge (+ 35.88 mV) essential for colloidal stability and electrostatic membrane interaction.</p><p>The Se/CS nanocomposite exhibited superior antimicrobial potency against a broad spectrum of pathogens, including methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) and <i>P. aeruginosa</i>. Notably, the nanocomposite achieved a significantly lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for MRSA (40&#xa0;µg/ml) compared to bare Se NPs (110&#xa0;µg/ml). Furthermore, the system demonstrated robust anti-biofilm activity, inhibiting up to 60% of biofilm formation at 100&#xa0;µg/ml. Ultrastructural TEM analysis confirmed severe cellular damage, characterized by cell wall distortion and cytoplasmic lysis. The final nanocomposite also displayed excellent antioxidant activity (76.5% DPPH scavenging). Importantly, cytotoxicity assays on Vero cells revealed that while Se NPs alone had a cytotoxic concentration 50% <i>(</i>CC<sub>50</sub>) of 56.1 ± 3.5&#xa0;µg/ml, the CS-mediated nanocomposite significantly enhanced biocompatibility, increasing the CC<sub>50</sub> to 124.1 ± 2.9&#xa0;µg/ml. Molecular docking studies supported these results, predicting favorable binding affinities between specific coral metabolites and microbial protein targets. This synergistic, marine-inspired platform offers a promising, non-toxic strategy for mitigating resistant pathogens in diverse biomedical and environmental applications.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Antimicrobial, antibiofilm, antioxidant, molecular docking studies, and cytotoxicity evaluations of green synthesized selenium nanoparticles using soft coral Litophyton mollis alone or combined with chitosan

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月21日

查看全文
  • Mohamed M. El-Zahed,
  • Menna A. Shata,
  • Ahmed H. Eissa

摘要

Microbial resistance and biofilm formation represent critical global health threats, necessitating the development of innovative, eco-friendly antimicrobial platforms. This study reports the first-ever green synthesis of a selenium/chitosan nanocomposite (Se/CS) bio-augmented with secondary metabolites from the Red Sea soft coral, Litophyton mollis. The Se/CS platform was comprehensively characterized via UV-Vis, FT-IR, XRD, and TEM, confirming the formation of stable, spherical nanoparticles (37–45 nm) with a strong positive surface charge (+ 35.88 mV) essential for colloidal stability and electrostatic membrane interaction.

The Se/CS nanocomposite exhibited superior antimicrobial potency against a broad spectrum of pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and P. aeruginosa. Notably, the nanocomposite achieved a significantly lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for MRSA (40 µg/ml) compared to bare Se NPs (110 µg/ml). Furthermore, the system demonstrated robust anti-biofilm activity, inhibiting up to 60% of biofilm formation at 100 µg/ml. Ultrastructural TEM analysis confirmed severe cellular damage, characterized by cell wall distortion and cytoplasmic lysis. The final nanocomposite also displayed excellent antioxidant activity (76.5% DPPH scavenging). Importantly, cytotoxicity assays on Vero cells revealed that while Se NPs alone had a cytotoxic concentration 50% (CC50) of 56.1 ± 3.5 µg/ml, the CS-mediated nanocomposite significantly enhanced biocompatibility, increasing the CC50 to 124.1 ± 2.9 µg/ml. Molecular docking studies supported these results, predicting favorable binding affinities between specific coral metabolites and microbial protein targets. This synergistic, marine-inspired platform offers a promising, non-toxic strategy for mitigating resistant pathogens in diverse biomedical and environmental applications.