Characterization and Anticancer Activity of Biosynthesized Au/Cellulose Nanocomposite from Chlorella vulgaris

Abstract

Therapeutic selectivity is a critical issue in cancer therapy. As a result of its adjustable physicochemical characteristics, the Au/cellulose nanocomposite currently holds a lot of potential for solving this challenge. This work was designed to prepare a Au/cellulose nanocomposite with enhanced anticancer activity through the regulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway. Nanocellulose, nanogold (AuNPs), and a Au/cellulose nanocomposite were biosynthesized from microgreen alga Chlorella vulgaris. Using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), zeta potential analyzer, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed and characterized. In human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549 cells), the selectivity and anticancer activity of the produced nanoparticles were evaluated. The cytotoxicity results revealed that the inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the Au/cellulose nanocomposite against A549 cancer lung cells was 4.67 ± 0.17 µg/µL compared to 182.75 ± 6.45 µg/µL in the case of HEL299 normal lung fibroblasts. It was found that treatment with nanocellulose and the Au/cellulose nanocomposite significantly increased (p < 0.05) the relative expression of tumor suppressor 53 (p53) in comparison to control cells. They also significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the relative expression of the Raf-1 gene. These findings indicate that nanocellulose and the Au/cellulose nanocomposite regulate cell cycles mostly via the motivation of p53 gene expression and reduction of Raf-1 gene expression.

Assessment of Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities of Microgreen Alga Chlorella vulgaris and Its Blend with Different Vitamins

“…Hot water extract of Chlorella vulgaris decreased the number of viable HepG2 cells due to increased DNA damage and apoptosis [ 57 ]. Nanocellulose and the Au/cellulose nanocomposite derived from Chlorella vulgaris posses’ significant cytotoxicity against lung cancer cells (A549) due to improve the relative expression of p53 gene, while reduced that of the Raf-1 gene [ 58 ]. In the FT-IR spectroscopy analysis of C. vulgaris biomass and supplemented with Thiamine there was the change in the peak position and also there were new peaks and disappear other peaks in the alga supplemented with thiamine, that denoted that modification of algal structure after treatments and hence effect in properties and metabolites [ 59 ].…”

Carnosic Acid Encapsulated in Albumin Nanoparticles Induces Apoptosis in Breast and Colorectal Cancer Cells

“…The cellulose extraction from Chlorella vulgaris algae was described by Hamouda et al 2021 [27]. In brief, Five grams of dried Chlorella vulgaris algae powder were extracted with 68 mL of toluene and 32 mL of ethanol.…”

Anticancer Properties of N,N-dibenzylasparagine as an Asparagine (Asp) analog, Using Colon Cancer Caco-2 Cell Line

“…For staining ASNS enzyme, the rabbit monoclonal primary antibody (mAb #92479, Cell Signaling Technology, USA) and goat anti-rabbit IgG (Alexa Fluor 488, Abcam, USA) were used. Finally, the flow cytometry assay (BD Accuri 6 Plus) was used to assess the protein levels using a resuspended pellet in 500 µl PBS (Abd El Maksoud et al, 2019b;Hamouda et al, 2021).…”