Open AccessScreening Small Metabolites from Cells as Multifunctional Coatings Simultaneously Improves Nanomaterial Biocompatibility and Functionality
Author(s) -
Sun Anqi,
Ban Zhan,
Mu Li,
Hu Xiangang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.388
H-Index - 100
ISSN - 2198-3844
DOI - 10.1002/advs.201800341
Subject(s) - biocompatibility , nanomaterials , sorbitol , citric acid , chemistry , nanotechnology , biochemistry , materials science , organic chemistry
Currently, nanomaterials face a dilemma due to their advantageous properties and potential risks to human health. Here, a strategy to improve both nanomaterial biocompatibility and functionality is established by screening small metabolites from cells as nanomaterial coatings. A metabolomics analysis of cells exposed to nanosilver (nAg) integrates volcano plots ( t ‐tests and fold change analysis), partial least squares‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA), and significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) and identifies six metabolites ( l ‐aspartic acid, l ‐malic acid, myoinositol, d ‐sorbitol, citric acid, and l ‐cysteine). The further analysis of cell viability, oxidative stress, and cell apoptosis reveals that d ‐sorbitol markedly reduces nAg cytotoxicity. Subsequently, small molecule loading, surface oxidation, and ionic release experiments support d ‐sorbitol as the optimal coating for nAg. Importantly, d ‐sorbitol loading improves the duration of the antibacterial activity of nAg against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus . The biocidal persistence of nAg‐sorbitol is extended beyond 9 h, and the biocidal effects at 12 h are significantly higher than those of naked nAg. This work proposes a new strategy to improve the biocompatibility and functionality of nAg simultaneously by screening small metabolites from cells as nanomaterial functional coatings, a method that can be applied to mitigate the side effects of other nanomaterials.