Abstract

The antimicrobial efficacy of methylglyoxal (MG) against several gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli has been reported. To determine the mechanism of action of MG, molecular interactions between lipid and MG within the liposomal membrane were also investigated. Multilamellar and unilamellar vesicles were prepared from 1, 2-dipalmitoyl-snglycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC). The effect of MG on DPPC liposomal membrane was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The results indicate that MG interacts mainly with the DPPC head group that produces a significant increase in the fluidity of liposomal vesicles, which could be the cause of a fusion/aggregation effect in microbial cells. The agarose gel electrophoresis study with the genomic DNA extracted from E. coli ATCC 25922 revealed that addition of MG could completely degrade this DNA within 1 h, pointing out to their distinctly high degree of sensitivity towards MG. Further, the drug was able to cross the cell membranes, penetrating into the interior of the cell and interacting with DNA for demonstrating antibacterial activity of MG.

Authors

Bhandary S, Chaki S, Mukherjee S, Das S, Mukherjee S, Chaudhuri K, Dastidar SG

Institution

Department of Physics, Jadavpur University, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata 700 032, India.

Source

Indian journal of experimental biology 50:7 2012 Jul pg 491-6

MeSH

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Biomimetics
Calorimetry, Differential Scanning
DNA, Bacterial
Electrophoresis, Agar Gel
Escherichia coli
Membranes, Artificial
Pyruvaldehyde
Spectrometry, Fluorescence

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22822529