Argyreia nervosa-driven biosynthesis of Cu-Ag bimetallic nanoparticles from plant leaves extract unveils enhanced antibacterial properties.

Our study specifically explores the biosynthesis of copper-silver bimetallic nanoparticles (Cu-Ag BMNPs) using Argyreia nervosa (AN) plant leaf green extract as a versatile agent for capping, reducing, and stabilizing. This biosynthesis method is characterized by its simplicity and cost-effectiveness, utilizing silver nitrate (AgNO3) and cupric oxide (CuO) as precursor materials. Our comprehensive characterization of the Cu-Ag BMNPs, employing techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Zetasizer, and Fourier transformed infrared spectrometry (FTIR). FTIR analysis reveals biofunctional groups and chemical bands, while SEM and XRD analyses provide morphological and structural details. To evaluate the antimicrobial properties of the Cu-Ag BMNPs, we conducted disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays against Escherichia coli (E. coli), with results compared to the standard gentamicin antibiotic. It is observed that the 2% and 5% CuO concentrations of AN Cu-Ag BMNPs exhibit substantial antibacterial activity in comparison to AN extract when tested on EPEC. Among these, the Cu-Ag BMNPs at a 2% concentration demonstrate higher antibacterial activity, potentially attributed to the enhanced dispersion of BMNPs facilitated by the lower CuO doping concentration. These two assays showcased the improved antimicrobial activity of Cu-Ag BMNPs, highlighting their synergistic effect, characterized by high MIC values and a broad zone of inhibition in the disc diffusion tests against E. coli. These results emphasize the significant antibacterial potential of the synthesized BMNPs, with a medicinal plant AN leaf extract playing a pivotal role in enhancing antibacterial activity.

Coarsening dynamics of domains in lipid membranes.

We investigate isothermal diffusion and growth of micron-scale liquid domains within membranes of free-floating giant unilamellar vesicles with diameters between 80 and 250 µm. Domains appear after a rapid temperature quench, when the membrane is cooled through a miscibility phase transition such that coexisting liquid phases form. In membranes quenched far from a miscibility critical point, circular domains nucleate and then progress within seconds to late stage coarsening in which domains grow via two mechanisms 1), collision and coalescence of liquid domains, and 2), Ostwald ripening. Both mechanisms are expected to yield the same growth exponent, α = 1/3, where domain radius grows as time(α). We measure α = 0.28 ± 0.05, in excellent agreement. In membranes close to a miscibility critical point, the two liquid phases in the membrane are bicontinuous. A quench near the critical composition results in rapid changes in morphology of elongated domains. In this case, we measure α = 0.50 ± 0.16, consistent with theory and simulation.

Cholesterol Depletion from a Ceramide/Cholesterol Mixed Monolayer: A Brewster Angle Microscope Study.

Cholesterol is crucial to the mechanical properties of cell membranes that are important to cells' behavior. Its depletion from the cell membranes could be dramatic. Among cyclodextrins (CDs), methyl beta cyclodextrin (MßCD) is the most efficient to deplete cholesterol (Chol) from biomembranes. Here, we focus on the depletion of cholesterol from a C16 ceramide/cholesterol (C16-Cer/Chol) mixed monolayer using MßCD. While the removal of cholesterol by MßCD depends on the cholesterol concentration in most mixed lipid monolayers, it does not depend very much on the concentration of cholesterol in C16-Cer/Chol monolayers. The surface pressure decay during depletion were described by a stretched exponential that suggested that the cholesterol molecules are unable to diffuse laterally and behave like static traps for the MßCD molecules. Cholesterol depletion causes morphology changes of domains but these disrupted monolayers domains seem to reform even when cholesterol level was low.