Untracht Zachary T, Ozcan Ali, Santra Swadeshmukul, Kang Ellen H
NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry, Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando 32816, Florida, United States.
ACS Omega. 2020 Jan 10;5(3):1402-1407. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b02893. eCollection 2020 Jan 28.
Zinkicide is a systemic bactericidal formulation containing protein-size fluorescent zinc oxide-based nanoparticles (nano-ZnO). Previous studies have shown that Zinkicide is effective in controlling citrus diseases. Its field performance as an antimicrobial agent has been linked to the bioavailability of zinc ions (Zn) at the target site. It is therefore important to monitor Zn release from Zinkicide so that application rates and frequency can be estimated. In this study, we present a simplistic approach designed to monitor Zinkicide nanoparticle dissolution rates in water and acidic buffer solutions using traditional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The evolution of nano-ZnO in the polyacrylamide gel scaffolds was studied by exciting the sample with UV light and detecting the fluorescence of nano-ZnO. Fluorescence intensities measured with this assay allowed for quantitative analysis of molecular weight changes of nano-ZnO in citrate buffer, a surrogate of citrus juice. Our results demonstrated that citrate buffer induced the greatest degradation of Zinkicide. Fluorescence intensity fluctuations were observed over time, indicating interactions of citrate with the surface of nano-ZnO. These findings provide a new approach to quantify the dissolution of nanoparticles in simulated environments, even when other analytical methods lack sensitivity because of the small size of the system (≈4 nm).
锌杀菌剂是一种含有蛋白质大小的基于荧光氧化锌的纳米颗粒（纳米氧化锌）的系统性杀菌制剂。先前的研究表明，锌杀菌剂在控制柑橘类病害方面有效。其作为抗菌剂的田间性能与目标部位锌离子（Zn）的生物利用度有关。因此，监测锌杀菌剂中锌的释放情况很重要，以便估算施用量和施用频率。在本研究中，我们提出了一种简单的方法，旨在使用传统的十二烷基硫酸钠聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（SDS-PAGE）监测锌杀菌剂纳米颗粒在水和酸性缓冲溶液中的溶解速率。通过用紫外光激发样品并检测纳米氧化锌的荧光，研究了聚丙烯酰胺凝胶支架中纳米氧化锌的演变。用该测定法测量的荧光强度允许对柠檬酸缓冲液（柑橘汁的替代物）中纳米氧化锌的分子量变化进行定量分析。我们的结果表明，柠檬酸缓冲液导致锌杀菌剂的降解最大。随着时间的推移观察到荧光强度波动，表明柠檬酸与纳米氧化锌表面的相互作用。这些发现提供了一种新方法，可用于量化纳米颗粒在模拟环境中的溶解情况，即使在由于系统尺寸小（约4纳米）而其他分析方法缺乏灵敏度时也是如此。
