Figure Captions
Figure 1: Camera Pictures of a HAuCl4 solution
at 4.0×10-4 M in absence (1) and presence (2) of SS
(A); UV-Vis spectra of solutions containing AuNPs (diluted 1:5),
observing the typical SPR, collected at different incubation time from
the mixture of HAuCl4 and SS (B); Time evolution of SPR
absorbance intensity (Amax) versus the related FWHM (C);
Time evolution of SPR wavelength registered in correspondence of the
Amax versus the SPR FWHM (D).
Figure 2: FESEM images of AuNPs-SS (A, B ); AuNPs size
distribution determined from FESEM images (500 particles) (C ).
Figure 3: High resolution XPS spectra of the AuNPs-SS and their
relative curve-fitting: Au 4f (A ), C 1s (B ), O 1s
(C ), N 1s spectra (D ).
Figure 4: ATR-FTIR spectra of SS, AuNPs-SS and SS after the
AuNPs formation.
Figure 5: Positive ion MALDI-FT-ICR MS of the snail slime
(A ) and AuNPs snail slime (B ) samples with DHB as
matrix
Figure 6: Effect of pH on
SPR wavelength position and FWHM (A ) and on ζ-potential values
(B ).
Figure 7: Confluent monolayers of NCTC2544 were wounded by
manually scratching as described in Materials and Methods and incubated
with increasing concentrations of AuNPs-SS. Representative pictures of
the wound gap taken at 0h, 24h and 48 h (A) ; Histograms
reported the percentage of gap closure compared with time 0h(B) ; histogram representing viable cells (trypan blue negative)
counted with the aid of a Burker chamber, as described in M&M(C) ; Western blot analysis of uPAR levels quantified by
densitometric analysis; GAPDH was also examined to ensure equal loading
of samples in each lane. For all the panels in the figure, data in the
graphs represent the mean ± SD of at least three independent triplicate
experiments. Asterisks (*p< 0.05) indicate significant
differences of AuNPs-SS treated cells, from CTRL (untreated)(D) .
Figure 8: Optical images of untreated, LPS treated, or AuNPs-SS
treated cells (A) ; histogram representing viable cells(B); RT–PCR analysis of mRNA levels of IL1β, IL6, iNOS in
cells treated as in (A) (C) . Amplification of cDNA was carried
out for 30 cycles and β-actin was used as the reference gene; results
were from a typical experiment out of three. Densitometric analysis of
the expression gene levels is reported at the bottom. Significance was
assessed by one‐way ANOVA test followed by Newman-Keuls post test. Error
bars indicate mean ± SD; Asterisks (*p< 0.05) indicate
significant differences of LPS+AuNPs-SS treated cells from LPS, while
Number sign (#p<0.05) indicates significant differences from
CTRL (D) western blot analysis of iNOS and p65. Histograms on
the right represent densitometric analysis of the iNOS and p65 protein
levels. Asterisks (*p< 0.05) indicate significant differences
of LPS+AuNPs-SS treated cells from LPS. Results were from a typical
experiment out of three.