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Virus cross-infection via surfaces poses a serious threat to public health. Inspired by natural sulfated polysaccharides and antiviral peptides, we prepared multivalent virus blocking nanomaterials by introducing amino acids to sulfated cellulose nanofibrils (SCNFs) via the Mannich reaction. The antiviral activity of the resulting amino acid-modified sulfated nanocellulose was significantly improved. Specifically, 1 h treatment with arginine modified SCNFs at a concentration of 0.1 g/mL led to a complete inactivation of the phage-X174 (reduction by more than three orders of magnitude). Atomic force microscope showed that amino acid-modified sulfated nanofibrils can bind phage-X174 to form linear clusters, thus preventing the virus from infecting the host. When we coated wrapping paper and the inside of a face-mask with our amino acid-modified SCNFs, phage-X174 was completely deactivated on the coated surfaces, demonstrating the potential of our approach for use in the packaging and personal protective equipment industries. This work provides an environmentally friendly and cost-efficient approach to fabricating multivalent nanomaterials for antiviral applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This work describes the derivatization of dextran using N-(tert-butyloxycarbonyl)-S-(trityl)-L-cysteine in the presence of N,N'-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) as a coupling agent. Homogeneous reactions in dimethyl sulfoxide allowed for an efficient coupling of the amino acid derivative to the polymer backbone. Derivatization was confirmed by infrared and 13 C NMR spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography and elemental analysis. The presence of hydrophobic protecting groups resulted in a product that can be shaped into water-insoluble particles stable in an aqueous environment and non-toxic for lung epithelial cells. It is suggested that materials composed of ester bonds between amino acids and polysaccharides are useful for targeted drug delivery, bio-imaging or surface functionalization., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Nowadays the using of eco-systems to synthesize new materials is the promising issue. In this work, new eco-synthesis method was developed to prepare antimicrobial cellulosic-amino acid base ligand and complexes with copper. The complex was characterized via different instrumental analysis (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX)) as well as two antimicrobial screening tools (minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) and time required for killing). The UV-vis spectroscopic data indicates the metal to-ligand charge transfer transitions which is consistent with square planar geometry. DLS and SEM approved that the complex particles are in nano-size. Prepared complex appeared highly antimicrobial activity against all tested microbial organisms which can be described as broad spectrum antimicrobial agent. Rapid killing kinetics was beneficial in helping to resolve an infection more rapidly., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chronic wounds, pressure sores, lesions, and infections of microbial origin in bedridden, paralyzed, or malnutrition patients remain the object of study of many researchers. A variety of factors behind the development of these disorders are related to the patient's immune system, making it unable to respond effectively to the treatment of the wound. These factors can be properly controlled, giving particular importance to the ethiology and stage of the wound, as well as the time periods corresponding to the replacement of the dressings. The present research reports a novel foam/soft material, L -Cys-g-PCL, with an application for decubitus/pressure ulcers, especially for wounds with a difficult healing process due to infections and constant oxidation of the soft tissues. During this work, the interactions between S. aureus and L -Cys-g-PCL foam were studied under conditions that simulate decubitus ulcers; namely, pH and exudate. The effects of duration of grafting (1 or 8 h) and pH (7.0 and 8.9) on wettability, surface energy, swelling, and porosity were also evaluated. Results showed an effective microbicidal activity exhibiting an inhibition ratio of 99.73% against S. aureu s. This new L -Cys-g-PCL soft material showed saftey to contact skin, ability to be shaped to fill in sunken holes (craters) - pressure ulcers stage III - and to act as a smart material responsive to pH, which can be tailored to develop better swelling properties at alkaline pH where exudates are normally higher, so as to address exudate self-cleaning and prevention of desiccation..

Effects of reaction pH and time on the antioxidant behaviors of Tyr, Trp, Cys, and their related peptides (Tyr-Gly, Tyr-Glu, Tyr-Lys, Trp-Gly, Trp-Glu, Trp-Lys, Cys-Gly and Cys-Gly) in ABTS assay were investigated. Results showed that all these amino acids and peptides displayed a biphasic kinetic pattern with a fast initial step and a slow secondary step. The initial reaction rates of Tyr, Trp and their related peptides were strongly dependent on pH, while those of Cys and Cys-containing peptides were unaffected by pH. They failed to reach equilibrium over the short incubation period of 6-10 min typically used in this assay. Longer incubation time was needed for most of the peptides to approach equilibrium at lower pH. The observed biphasic kinetic pattern as well as the high TEAC values for these amino acids and peptides, could be a result of combined antioxidant behaviors of themselves plus the generated reaction products., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cholinium amino acid ionic liquids ([Ch][AA] ILs), which are wholly composed of renewable biomaterials, have recently been demonstrated to have very promising properties for applications in organic synthesis and biomass pretreatment. In this work, the toxicity of these ILs toward enzymes and bacteria was assessed, and the effect of the anion on these properties is discussed. The inhibitory potentials of this type of ILs to acetylcholinesterase were weaker approximately an order of magnitude than the traditional IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate. Additionally, the [Ch][AA] ILs displayed low toxicity toward the bacteria tested. Furthermore, the biodegradability of the [Ch][AA] ILs was evaluated via the closed bottle and CO(2) headspace tests using wastewater microorganisms. All the ILs were classified as 'readily biodegradable' based on their high levels of mineralization (62-87%). The presence of extra carboxyl or amide groups on the amino acid side chain rendered the ILs significantly more susceptible to microbial breakdown. In addition, for most of the [Ch][AA] ILs, low toxicity correlated with good biodegradability. The low toxicity and high biodegradability of these novel [Ch][AA] make them promising candidates for use as environmentally friendly solvents in large-scale applications.