This document discusses the antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles. It notes that microbes are causing diseases and developing antimicrobial resistance, posing problems. Silver has long been known to have medical antimicrobial properties. Silver nanoparticles have unique properties that make them useful for molecular diagnostics and therapies. Their exact antimicrobial mechanism is debated, but they may accumulate on cell surfaces, release silver ions, generate reactive oxygen species, react with cellular components like DNA, and modulate bacterial signal transduction, ultimately killing microbes through several potential mechanisms. While silver has been an excellent antimicrobial, nanoparticles may increase its efficacy, though more research is needed to fully understand their antimicrobial activity.

1. Antimicrobial activity of Silver
nanoparticles
BY:
UMAR HAYAT
M. BILAL

2. Contents
 Problem
 Antimicrobial activity of AgNPs
 Mechanism of action
 Conclusion

3. Problem
 Microbes are causing a number of diseases.
 Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and
treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria,
parasites, viruses and fungi.
 Adaptation of microbes to stress and other controlling factors.

4. Silver
 The medical properties of silver
have been known for over 2,000
years.
 Since the nineteenth century,
silver-based compounds have
been used in many
antimicrobial applications.

5. AgNPs?
 Silver nanoparticles are particles of silver which are in the range of 1 and
100 nm in size.
 Silver nanoparticles have unique properties which help in molecular
diagnostics, in therapies.
 The major methods used for silver nanoparticle synthesis are the green
synthesis and chemical methods.

7. Mechanism of action
 The exact mechanism which silver nanoparticles employ to cause
antimicrobial effect is not clearly known and is a debated topic.
 There are however various theories on the action of silver nanoparticles
on microbes to cause the microbicidal effect.

8. Accumulation on cell surface
 Silver nanoparticles have the ability to anchor to the bacterial cell wall and
subsequently penetrate it.
 There is formation of ‘pits’ on the cell surface, and there is accumulation of
the nanoparticles on the cell surface.
 Thereby causing structural changes in the cell membrane like the
permeability of the cell membrane and death of the cell.

9. Formation of free radicals
 The formation of free radicals by the silver nanoparticles may be
considered to be another mechanism by which the cells die.
 There have been electron spin resonance spectroscopy studies that
suggested that there is formation of free radicals by the silver
nanoparticles when in contact with the bacteria.
 These free radicals have the ability to damage the cell membrane and
make it porous which can ultimately lead to cell death.

10. Release of silver ions
 It has also been proposed that there can be release of silver ions by the
nanoparticles.
 These ions can interact with the thiol groups of many vital enzymes and
inactivate them.
 The bacterial cells in contact with silver take in silver ions, which inhibit
several functions in the cell and damage the cells

11. Reactive oxygen species
 Then, there is the generation of reactive oxygen species, which are
produced possibly through the inhibition of a respiratory enzyme by silver
ions and attack the cell itself.

12. Acid –Base reaction
 Silver is a soft acid, and have l tendency to react with a soft base.
 The cells are majorly made up of sulfur and phosphorus which are soft
bases.
 The action of these nanoparticles on the cell can cause the reaction to take
place and subsequently lead to cell death.
 DNA has sulfur and phosphorus as its major components.
 The interaction of the silver nanoparticles DNA can lead to problems in the
DNA replication of the bacteria.

13. Modulate the signal transduction
 Nanoparticles can modulate the signal transduction in bacteria.
 It is a well-established fact that phosphorylation of protein substrates in
bacteria influences bacterial signal transduction.
 The phospho-tyrosine profile of bacterial peptides is altered by the
nanoparticles.
 Nanoparticles dephosphorylate the peptide substrates on tyrosine
residues, which leads to signal transduction inhibition and thus the
stoppage of growth.

15. Conclusion
 Silver has always been an excellent antimicrobial.
 The unique physical and chemical properties of silver nanoparticles only
increase the efficacy of silver.
 Though there are many mechanisms attributed to the antimicrobial
activity shown by silver nanoparticles, the actual and most reliable
mechanism is not fully understood.
 Nanoparticles are found to act on different organisms in different ways.

17. Any Question?