Quinoline Thiourea-Based Zinc Ionophores with Antibacterial Activity

The increasing resistance of bacteria to commercially available antibiotics threatens patient safety in healthcare settings. Perturbation of ion homeostasis has emerged as a potential therapeutic strategy to fight against antibacterial resistance and other channelopathies. This study reports the development of 8-aminoquinoline (QN) derivatives and their transmembrane Zn2+ transport activities. Our findings showed that a potent QN-based Zn2+ transporter exhibits promising antibacterial properties against Gram-positive bacteria with reduced hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity to mammalian cells. Furthermore, this combination showed excellent in vivo efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus. Interestingly, this combination prevented bacterial resistance and restored susceptibility of gentamicin and methicillin-resistant S. aureus to commercially available β-lactam and other antibiotics that had lost their activity against the drug-resistant bacterial strain. Our findings suggest that the transmembrane transport of Zn2+ by QN derivatives could be a promising strategy to combat bacterial infections and restore the activity of other antibiotics.

An organic phase transmetallation approach for synthesis of hollow Ni–Au nanocomposites with tunable cavity size

Hydrophobized HAuCl₄ entered Ni nanoparticles through the fractures on the surface initiating transmetallation at the centre, yielding hollow Ni–Au composites.

A hydrothermally grown CdS nanograin-sensitized 1D Zr:α-Fe2O3/FTO photoanode for efficient solar-light-driven photoelectrochemical performance

A CdS nanograin sensitized 1D Zr:Fe₂O₃ nanorod arrays nanostructure was hydrothermally synthesized and showed an excellent photoelectrochemical performance due to the combined effect of light absorption in CdS and effective charge transport in one dimensional Zr:Fe₂O₃ nanorod arrays.