| AVS 65th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces Division | Thursday Sessions |
| Session BI-ThA |
| Session: | Biolubrication and Wear / Women in Bio-surface Science |
| Presenter: | Kelly Nash, University of Texas at San Antonio |
| Authors: | K.L. Nash, University of Texas at San Antonio S. Tek, University of Texas at San Antonio B. Vincent, University of Texas at San Antonio C. Smith, University of Texas at San Antonio R. Robledo, University of Texas at San Antonio |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Selenium (Se) and Tellurium (Te) are two elements under-utilized in medicinal treatments that naturally occur in the human body. Selenium is a bioessential element that exists as a micronutrient throughout most biological systems. In mammalian species, selenium is found in the form of selenocycteine, an amino acid found in selenoproteins. Selenoproteins play an important role in cell metabolism and is an active participant in anti-oxidant glutathione peroxidase mechanism which aids in DNA synthesis. Given selenium’s crucial role within biological functions, recent efforts have investigated the antimicrobial properties of selenium as a means to reverse, suppress or prevent the development biofilms. Tellurium, belonging to the same family as oxygen, sulphur and selenium, has been far less studied for its bioactivity. In part, this is due to its classification of being a non-essential biological element. However, recent evidence points to the possible existence and role in biological activity, abet to a lesser extent than selenium. Given that Selenium (Se), a bioessential element, and tellurium (Te), its related analog, are under-utilized elements in the medicinal libraries of antimicrobial treatments, recent research on these elements reveals that they may have numerous therapeutic applications beyond antimicrobial effects including for anti-inflammatory, anti-fouling and anti-cancer treatments. The focus of the work has been to develop novel nano-alloys composed of Se and Te by bio-friendly and chemical free synthesis methods and to evaluate their antimicrobial effects in conjunction with complementary studies on their toxicity against normal cells. Using nano-alloy formulations of these elements will form the basis of a new type of nature-inspired microbial prevention. We demonstrate that the Seand Te nano-alloys provide a reduced toxicity to normal cells while providing enhanced therapeutic efficiency of these compounds towards biofilm inhibition including on surfaces. The short-term impact of this work will provide novel approaches to inhibiting biofilm formation. The long-term impact of this work will provide the basis for treatment of some difficult to treat nosocomial infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli and Candida albicans.