Metal Nanostructures in Biological Applications

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Biology and Medicines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 870

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
National Center for Innovative Technologies in Public Health, Istituto Superiore Di Sanita, Rome, Italy
Interests: nanomaterials; biomaterial; physicochemical characterization; risk assessment; nanomaterial–cell interaction; innovative antimicrobial therapies and nanotechnologies

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Guest Editor
National Center for Innovative Technologies in Public Health, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
Interests: microbiology; bacterial and viral infections; host–cell interactions; nanomaterials; nanomaterial risk assessment; innovative antimicrobial drugs; drug delivery; natural antimicrobial compounds
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metal nanostructures represent a category of particularly appealing materials due to their physico-chemical properties, such as size, shape, aspect ratio, surface area, surface charge, chemical composition, and surface reactivity, which determine enhanced optical, catalytic, mechanical, magnetic, and antibacterial properties or completely new characteristics. These specific and intrinsic properties, along with the engineering ability to modify their surface to carry antibodies, peptides, and other agents, have made these materials attractive for application in drug and gene delivery, cancer therapy, biomedical imaging, tissue engineering, infectious disease treatment, and oral and skin infection.

Synthesis methodologies to produce metal nanostructures play a key role in determining physico-chemical properties, as well as their biomedical application. However, toxicological studies have shown that some metallic nanoparticles can be toxic. Biological methods, such as green synthesis that uses plant extracts and microorganisms, represent a sustainable, alternative approach to producing biocompatible metal nanostructures. The merging of nanomaterials with biomaterials, such as polymeric hydrogel, or other technologies, such as 3D printing, allows us to develop innovative approaches for biomedicine.

This Special Issue intends to present the current strategies to design and develop innovative tools based on biocompatible metal nanostructures for biomedical applications. We cordially invite you to publish your research in this issue.

Dr. Barbara De Berardis
Dr. Maria Grazia Ammendolia
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • metal nanostructure synthesis and surface modifications
  • green synthesis
  • drug delivery
  • biomedical imaging
  • anti-infective treatments
  • neurodegenerative diseases
  • tissue engineering
  • wound healing
  • 3D printing
  • risk assessment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

25 pages, 3514 KiB  
Article
Harnessing Stevia rebaudiana for Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Green Synthesis: A Sustainable Solution to Combat Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens
by Mohamed Tharwat Elabbasy, Rasha M. El Bayomi, Esraa A. Abdelkarim, Abd El-Salam E. Hafez, Mohamed S. Othman, Mohamed E. Ghoniem, Mai A. Samak, Muteb H. Alshammari, Fahad Awwadh Almarshadi, Tamer Elsamahy and Mohamed A. Hussein
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(5), 369; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15050369 - 27 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 680
Abstract
The rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in food products poses a significant threat to public health, necessitating innovative and sustainable antimicrobial solutions. This study investigates the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) using Stevia rebaudiana extracts to evaluate their antibacterial and antibiofilm [...] Read more.
The rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in food products poses a significant threat to public health, necessitating innovative and sustainable antimicrobial solutions. This study investigates the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) using Stevia rebaudiana extracts to evaluate their antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against MDR Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from sold fish samples. The obtained results show that the contamination with S. aureus reached 54.2% in the tested fish samples (n = 120), underscoring the urgent need for effective interventions. ZnO-NPs were successfully synthesized and characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, FT-IR, XRD, and TEM, confirming their formation with an average size of 15.7 nm and reflecting their suitability for antimicrobial and biological applications. ZnO-NPs exhibited potent antibacterial activity, with a maximum inhibition zone of 24.4 ± 0.4 mm at 20 μg/disk, MIC values of 6.25–25 μg/mL, and MBC values of 12.5–50 μg/mL. Additionally, biofilm formation was inhibited by up to 92.1% at 250 μg/mL. Our mechanistic study confirmed that ZnO-NPs damage bacterial membranes and DNA, leading to the intracellular leakage of cell components that lead to bacterial cell lysis. The use of S. rebaudiana in ZnO-NP synthesis aligns with green chemistry principles, offering an eco-friendly alternative to conventional antibiotics and enhancing the bioactivity of ZnO-NPs, and may address the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance, thereby contributing to improved food safety and public health protection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal Nanostructures in Biological Applications)
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