Therapeutic Advantages of Nanoparticle-Impregnated Lysozyme Conjugates toward Amyloid-β Fibrillation and Antimicrobial Activity

The interaction of protein with nanoparticles (NPs) of varying shape and/or size boosts our understanding on their bioreactivity and establishes a comprehensive database for use in medicine, diagnosis, and therapeutic applications. The present study explores the interaction between lysozyme (LYZ) and different NPs like graphene oxide (GO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) having various shapes (spherical, 's', and rod-shaped, 'r') and sizes, focusing on their binding dynamics and subsequent effects on both the protein fibrillation and antimicrobial properties. Typically, GO is considered a promising medium due to its apparent inhibition and prolonged lag phase for LYZ fibrillation. However, the present results showed that spherical ZnO NPs (sZnO) offer superior efficacy in modulating fibrillation with an extended lag time of about 158.70 h, further emphasizing the importance of detailed investigation on the nanomaterial characteristics and fibril formation kinetics beyond initial observations. The experimental findings further confirmed a strong correlation between the binding affinity of NPs to the native protein and their effective inhibition of protein denaturation, ultimately preventing fibril formation. Interestingly, the lysozyme nanoconjugates showed intriguing bactericidal effects, as confirmed through the agar plate assay and SEM imaging, over the native protein. Overall, this study shows that appropriate bionanomaterials can exhibit multifunctional properties, which paves the way for a deeper investigation of NP characteristics, ultimately benefiting a wide array of intriguing research.