Cotton Textile with Antimicrobial Activity and Enhanced Durability Produced by L-Cysteine-Capped Silver Nanoparticles

Design, synthesis, and biological studies of the new cysteine-N-arylacetamide derivatives as a potent urease inhibitor

Inhibition of Helicobacter pylori urease is an effective method in the treatment of several gastrointestinal diseases in humans. This bacterium plays an important role in the pathogenesis of gastritis and peptic ulceration. Considering the presence of cysteine and N-arylacetamide derivatives in potent urease inhibitors, here, we designed hybrid derivatives of these pharmacophores. Therefore, cysteine-N-arylacetamide derivatives 5a-l were synthesized through simple nucleophilic reactions with good yield. In vitro urease inhibitory activity assay of these compounds demonstrated that all newly synthesized compounds exhibited high inhibitory activity (IC50 values = 0.35-5.83 μM) when compared with standard drugs (thiourea: IC50 = 21.1 ± 0.11 μM and hydroxyurea: IC50 = 100.0 ± 0.01 μM). Representatively, compound 5e with IC50 = 0.35 μM was 60 times more potent than strong urease inhibitor thiourea. Enzyme kinetic study of this compound revealed that compound 5e is a competitive urease inhibitor. Moreover, a docking study of compound 5e was performed to explore crucial interactions at the urease active site. This study revealed that compound 5e is capable to inhibit urease by interactions with two crucial residues at the active site: Ni and CME592. Furthermore, a molecular dynamics study confirmed the stability of the 5e-urease complex and Ni chelating properties of this compound. It should be considered that, in the following study, the focus was placed on jack bean urease instead of H. pylori urease, and this was acknowledged as a limitation.

Textile Functionalization Using LTA and FAU Zeolitic Materials

COVID-19 has drawn worldwide attention to the need for personal protective equipment. Face masks can be transformed from passive filters into active protection. For this purpose, it is sufficient to apply materials with oligodynamic effect to the fabric of the masks, which makes it possible to destroy infectious agents that have fallen on the mask with aerosol droplets from the air stream. Zeolites themselves are not oligodynamic materials, but can serve as carriers for nanoparticles of metals and/or compounds of silver, zinc, copper, and other materials with biocidal properties. Such a method, when the particles are immobilized on the surface of the substrate, will increase the lifetime of the active oligodynamic material. In this work, we present the functionalization of textile materials with zeolites to obtain active personal protective equipment with an extended service life. This is done with the aim to extend the synthesis of zeolitic materials to polymeric fabrics beyond cotton. The samples were characterized using XRD, SEM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Data of physicochemical studies of the obtained hybrid materials (fabrics with crystals grown on fibers) will be presented, with a focus on the effect of fabrics in the growth process of zeolites.