Silver nanoparticle-protein interactions and the role of lysozyme as an antagonistic antibacterial agent.

The photoreductive synthesis and antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) prepared in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (LZ) were evaluated. AgNP@BSA showed similar antibacterial activity to those stabilized with citrate (AgNP@CIT) and to an AgNO solution, suggesting the releases of Ag as the mechanism of death. In contrast, AgNP@LZ solutions showed no activity, although LZ behaves as a moderately antibacterial peptide.