Figure 2.

Antibacterial mechanisms of different class of nanoparticle: Mechanistic insight into the nanoparticle interaction with bacterial membrane to overcome AMR. (A) depicts the general membrane targets of the NPs through the activity of efflux pumps, reactive oxygen species (ROS), ion channels and membrane lipid destabilisation serving as antibacterial agents: (B) depicts the mycobacterial membrane and the interaction of PDMAEMA [poly(dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate] polymeric NPs with the LPS layer of the mycobacterium, leading to cell membrane disruption; (C) represents the precise membrane interaction of the NPs with the Gram- negative bacteria- Ag NPs interact with LPS whereas AuNPs and Fe NPs binds with different targets through specific membrane transport proteins including the porin channels and the F0-F1 ATPase respectively; (D) shows the specific targets of different types of NPs on the Gram-positive bacterial membrane-Ag NPs, chitosan (polymeric) NPs, solid-lipid NPs: These interact with peptidoglycan layer of the cell envelop to exert antimicrobial activity. Others, including micelle or liposome-based NPs serves as a carrier to enhance the penetration of the antibiotic by interacting with the thick peptidoglycan of the bacterial membrane. Figure created in Biorender.