Contact-based antimicrobials, as antibiotic-free technologies that use non-specific interactions with bacterial cells to exert antimicrobial activity, are a prospective solution in fighting the global issue of bacterial resistance. A very simplified approach to their design considers the direct bonding of cationic guanidine-containing amino acids to the surface of nano-gold carriers. The structure enables antimicrobial activity due to a high density of cationic surface charges. This opens a set of novel questions that are important for their effective engineering, particularly regarding (i) chemistry and events that take place at the interface between NPs and cells, (ii) the direct influence of a charge (and its change) on interactions with bacterial and mammalian cells, and (iii) the stability of structures (and their antimicrobial activity) in the presence of enzymes, which are addressed in this paper. Because of the ability of amino acid-functionalized nano-gold to retain structural and functional activity, even after exposure to a range of physicochemical stimuli, they provide an excellent nanotechnological platform for designing highly effective contact-based antimicrobials and their applications.

基于接触的抗菌药物作为无抗生素技术，利用与细菌细胞的非特异性相互作用发挥抗菌活性，是应对全球细菌耐药性问题的前瞻性解决方案。他们设计的一种非常简化的方法是考虑将含阳离子胍的氨基酸直接键合到纳米金载体的表面。由于高密度的阳离子表面电荷，该结构能够实现抗菌活性。这开启了一组对其有效工程很重要的新问题，特别是关于 (i) 在 NPs 和细胞之间的界面处发生的化学和事件，(ii) 电荷（及其变化）对相互作用的直接影响与细菌和哺乳动物细胞，(iii) 在酶存在下结构的稳定性（及其抗菌活性），本文将对此进行讨论。由于氨基酸功能化纳米金能够保持结构和功能活性，即使在暴露于一系列物理化学刺激后，它们也为设计高效的基于接触的抗菌剂及其应用提供了极好的纳米技术平台。