Green-Based Approach to Synthesize Silver Nanoparticles Using the Fungal Endophyte Penicillium oxalicum and Their Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and In Vitro Anticancer Potential

Abstract

A green-based approach for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles has gained tremendous attention in biomedical applications. Fungal endophytes have been recognized as a remarkable biological source for the synthesis of potential nanodrugs. The present study focuses on the fabrication of silver nanoparticles using the fungal endophyte Penicillium oxalicum (POAgNPs) associated with the leaf of the Amoora rohituka plant. Sharp UV–visible spectra at 420 nm appeared due to the surface plasmon resonance of POAgNPs and the reduction of silver salt. FT-IR analysis revealed the presence of functional groups of bioactive compounds of P. oxalicum responsible for the reduction of silver salt and validated the synthesis of POAgNPs. A high degree of crystallinity was revealed through XRD analysis, and microscopy-based characterizations such as AFM, TEM, and FESEM showed uniformly distributed, and spherically shaped nanoparticles. Furthermore, POAgNPs showed a potential inhibitory effect against bacterial and fungal strains of pathogenic nature. POAgNPs also exhibited potential antioxidant activity against the synthetically generated free radicals such as DPPH, superoxide, hydroxyl, and nitric oxide with EC50 values of 9.034 ± 0.449, 56.378 ± 1.137, 34.094 ± 1.944, and 61.219 ± 0.69 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, POAgNPs exhibited cytotoxic potential against the breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 with IC50 values of 20.080 ± 0.761 and 40.038 ± 1.022 μg/mL, respectively. POAgNPs showed anticancer potential through inhibition of wound closure and by altering the nuclear morphology of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. Further anticancer activity revealed that POAgNPs induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells by differential expression of genes related to apoptosis, tumor suppression, and cell cycle arrest and increased the level of Caspase-3. The novel study showed that P. oxalicum-mediated silver nanoparticles exhibit potential biological activity, which can be exploited as nanodrugs in clinical applications.

Isolation and characterization of N‐(2‐Hydroxyethyl)hexadecanamide from Colletotrichum gloeosporioides with apoptosis‐inducing potential in breast cancer cells

“…6,57 The phenolic and flavonoid content present in EA extract of C. gloeosporioides confer anticancer activity and have been shown in our previous studies. 21,58 The present study thus validated the apoptosis-inducing potential of PEA, purified from mixture of bioactive compounds present in the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides. The compound PEA has long been reported for its activity against cancer cell proliferation.…”

“…[17][18][19] Besides, various studies have reported the anticancer potential of biologically engineered silver nanoparticles mediated by fungal endophytes. 20,21 Whereas, due to its small size, the nanoparticle of silver can easily enter the bloodstream and may induce toxicity to many organs, including the brain, spleen, heart, liver, and kidney by altering various physiological and biochemical parameters. 22 On the other hand, the phenolic compounds, phytoestrogens, polyketides, flavonoids, terpenes, terpenoids, steroids, and carotenoids produced from fungal endophytes have remarkable immunological and physiological effects with low toxicity as compared to synthetic drugs.…”

Ethyl Acetate Extract of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Promotes Cytotoxicity and Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer Cells

“…DAPI, a fluorescence dye staining was used to evaluate the presence of apoptotic cells and nuclear morphology of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 treated with the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides . Briefly, the human breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, were seeded in a six-well plate containing a coverslip at a density of 1 × 10 5 cells and treated with the EA extract of C.…”

“…The cytotoxic activity of the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides was performed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. 26 Invasive ductal/breast carcinoma cells, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, were grown in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (Himedia) with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (HI-FBS, Thermo Fisher Scientific) in a T-25 flask and were passaged using trypsin–EDTA (Himedia, TCL034) upon 80–90% of cell confluency. The cells were maintained in a 5% CO 2 incubator at 37 °C and observed daily for cellular morphology and the presence of any contaminations.…”

“…DAPI, a fluorescence dye staining was used to evaluate the presence of apoptotic cells and nuclear morphology of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 treated with the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides . 26 Briefly, the human breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, were seeded in a six-well plate containing a coverslip at a density of 1 × 10 5 cells and treated with the EA extract of C. gloeosporioides (IC 30 , IC 50 , and IC 70 ), and after 24 h, the cells were fixed with paraformaldehyde at room temperature, followed by incubation with 70% methanol for 30 min in −20 °C. Post-incubation, the cells were stained with DAPI (Puregene, Genetix) for 10 min at room temperature, and the image was captured using a fluorescence microscope (Leica, Germany).…”