Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting - October 25-30, 2015

Polymers and Self Assembly: From Biology to Nanomaterials Poster Session II

41-POS Board 41 Nanomaterials and Their Applications in Viral and Bacterial Inhibition Shree Singh 1 , Vida A. Dennis 1 . 1 Alabama State University, Montgomery, USA, 2 Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL, USA. Use of nanomaterials for a variety of applications has opened new avenues for treatment of pathogenic organisms. This emergence of nanotechnology is also being explored to treat viral and bacterial diseases. It has been noted in recent research articles that metals like silver and gold have anti-microbial and anti-viral activities, but cytotoxic effects of these reactive metals make them unsafe for human applications. The reactivity and behavior of nanomaterials can be modulated by reducing their size or conjugating them with biologically compatible materials. We have used gold nanoparticles of various sizes and shown that they can effectively inhibit RSV growth while exhibit low toxicity. Similarly, Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) conjugated silver nanoparticles showed low toxicity to HEp-2 cells at low concentrations and exhibited 44% RSV inhibition. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are emerging nanomaterials for biomedical applications. We have shown that silver-CNTs being the effective nanomaterials in reducing RSV infection in cell culture. Similarly, various nanomaterials such as silver, gold and CNTs are very effective in inhibiting gram positive and gram negative bacteria.

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