TABLE 1.

Mechanisms of action and spectrum of activity of nanoparticles.

Nanoparticle	Action Mechanism	Spectrum	References
AgNPs	• Alteration of membrane permeability. • Binding to membrane proteins (respiratory chain proteins, transport proteins) and interfering with cell division and ion transport processes. • Inhibition of transcription, translation and protein synthesis. • Generation of ROS causing a direct damage on DNA.	Leishmania tropica Entamoeba histolytica Cryptosporidium parvum Giardia lamblia Fasciola spp. Plasmodium spp. Toxoplasma gondii Escherichia coli Pseudomonas aeruginosa	Ivask et al., 2014; Habimana et al., 2018; Ahmad et al., 2013; Eigler and Hirsch, 2014; Soleymani et al., 2016; Amrollahi-Sharifabadi et al., 2018
AuNPs	• Interfering with protein and ATP synthesis. • Modifiying membrane potential. • Inhibition of H+ transport	Escherichia coli Pseudomonas aeruginosa Salmonella typhi Bacillus subtilis Staphylococcus aureus Klebsiella pneumoniae Candida albicans Candida glabrata	Khezerlou et al., 2018; Kumar et al., 2019
Graphene	• Disruption of cell membrane by nano-blades. • Trapping of the bacterial membrane. • Destructive extraction of membrane lipids. • Oxidative stress which interfere with bacterial metabolism.	Escherichia coli Staphylococcus aureus Pseudmonoas aeruginosa Bacillus subtilis Enterococcus faecalis Staphylococcus epidermidis	Mu et al., 2016; Barbero et al., 2017; Ahsan et al., 2018; Kang et al., 2019