Antimicrobial Activities and Medicinal Applications of Metal Nanoparticles

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite your contributions to this Special Issue dedicated to the antimicrobial potency of metal nanoparticles and their potential medicinal application. It follows the first edition, dedicated primarily to the medicinal application of silver-containing nanoparticles. The issue received great interest from this journal’s readership and requests for a follow-up collecting new articles reporting further development in silver and other metal nanoparticle applications as antimicrobial agents.

The interest in synthesizing, developing and using metallic and bi-metallic nanoparticles as antimicrobial agents in numerous medical, consumer, agricultural and industrial fields has increased in the last decade. Reports describe metallic nanoparticles as highly potent against multi-drug resistant bacteria, with comparatively minimal toxicity to mammalian cells. However, bacterial resistance against silver and other metallic nanoparticles has also been documented, with controversies in the literature regarding the safety of the increased quantity of commercially available products incorporating metallic nanoparticles.

In the face of the dynamic development of studies on nanomaterials, rapid, open-access publishing of scientific surveys, innovations, new insights and ideas in one place is required to guarantee transparent availability to a wide readership.

Therefore, this Special Issue is dedicated, but not limited, to topics concerning:

• availability of antimicrobial metallic products in wide medicinal applications as alternative treatments, including targeted therapies that incorporate synergistic incorporation of silver or other metallic nanoparticles;
• caution of the proper choice of controls and monitoring the safety of metallic nano-products;
• environmental contamination and recycling of silver and other metals as antimicrobial agents;
• investigations into the mode of action with proposed mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and the potential synergistic effects of metals complexed with antibiotics or other natural antimicrobials.

This edition will demonstrate state-of-the-art knowledge in the metallic nano-antimicrobials area, highlight emerging trends of a field influencing the world in the future and promoting further research on metallic nanoparticles to address unmet clinical needs. The most interesting and highly educational contributions will be named ‘editor`s choice`, leading to better visibility on the forum. 

In this new edition of the Special Issue, any high-quality manuscript, research report or review article based on theoretical approaches and experimental explorations, in as much detail as possible, is more than welcome.

Thus, we encourage everyone to disseminate their valuable findings on this global platform by submitting original research work, up-to-date reviews, short communications or brief reports at the forefront of research.

Dr. Zyta M. Ziora
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• antibiotic
• antimicrobial
• copper
• gold
• nanoparticles
• medicinal application
• metallic
• multidrug resistance
• silver
• zinc

Title: Medical applications of silver nanoparticles
Authors: Shubham Sharmaa; Zyta M Ziorab; Prashant Mishra
Affiliation: 1 Department of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology, IIT Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India 2 Institute of Molecular Bioscience, The university of Queensland, Brisbane QLD, 4072, Australia
Abstract: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been thoroughly investigated and explored nanostructures owing to their inherent potential to act as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral as well as anticancer agents. There are many reports describing AgNPs as promising candidates for various medical applications, including— preparation of wound healing scaffolds, development of antibacterial textiles, purification of drinking water and surface coatings of medical implants and devices, as well as the fabrication of highly sensitive biosensors, contrast and fluorescent agents for bioimaging. This review covers multiple dimensions of the wound healing potential of AgNPs in terms of fibroblasts proliferation, keratinocytes migration, reduced inflammation, modulation of cytokines release and faster closure of chronic wounds. Herein, the applications of AgNPs for fabricating antimicrobial textiles, in microbial contamination-susceptible hospital setups, as well as for the purification of drinking water as a biocompatible and safe substitute for conventional disinfectants have been described. AgNPs have also been exploited for preparing antibacterial surface coating on dental, bone, cardiovascular implants and catheter due to their ability to inhibit the growth of microbial biofilms and reduce the risk of secondary infections during replacement procedures. Herein, we also focus on biosensing devices fabricated with AgNPs, for example, biosensors based on LSPR, RI, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF), colorimetric and electrochemical principal. AgNPs and their conjugates with bioactive molecules such as antibodies and aptamers, employed as contrast agents for intracellular and surface imaging of mammalian cells using fluorescence, luminescence, LSPR-FRET, SERS and many others will also be covered .