Ultrasound-induced membrane lipid peroxidation and cell damage of Escherichia coli in the presence of non-woven TiO2 fabrics

A non-woven titanium dioxide (TiO2) fabric was applied to disinfection by ultrasound (US) irradiation, and the disinfection efficiency and lipid peroxidation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) cell membrane were evaluated to investigate the killing process. The addition of non-woven TiO2 fabric enhanced hydroxyl (OH) radical generation and disinfection efficiency. Judging from the disinfection experiments using glutathione or t-butanol as a radical scavenger, the OH radical played a major role in cell killing in sonodynamic disinfection with non-woven TiO2 fabric. Moreover, to understand the detailed killing process, damage to cell membrane was also evaluated using a diphenyl-1-pyrenylphosphine (DPPP) fluorescent probe, which detects the membrane’s lipid peroxidation. The addition of non-woven TiO2 fabric aggravated this peroxidation. This aggravation was caused by the OH radical according to an assay using a radical scavenger. From these results, it was concluded that non-woven TiO2 fabric as a sonocatalyst promoted peroxidation of the polyunsaturated phospholipid component of the lipid membrane initially and induced a major disorder in the E. coli cell membrane under US irradiation.