Size, functional group effects and inhibition mode of graphene oxide for IMP-1 metallo-β-lactamase

Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) is one of the zinc (II) enzymes that catalyzes hydrolysis of almost all the β-lactam antibiotics for clinical use. In this study, we have focused on enzyme inhibition by graphene oxides (GOs). We prepared GOs with different sizes, oxidation degrees and functional group positions, and investigated the enzyme inhibition for IMP-1 of MBL using four types of GOs: conventional GO, nano-sized GO (nGO), reduced GO (RGO), and reduced nGO (RnGO). It was demonstrated that reducing the size and oxidation degree of GOs can improve their inhibitory capacities and change their inhibition modes. The results of this study will lead to expand the range of applications of GOs and contribute to further development of MBL inhibitors in the future.