Production, characterization and cytotoxicity effects of silver nanoparticles from Cystseira myrica

Background A green, eco-friendly approach to biosynthesizing silver nanoparticles has been reported for marine macroalga Cystseira myrica extract as a reducing agent. Methods Algal extract was prepared from the marine brown seaweed Cystoseira myrica. Different pH and temperature impact the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles suggesting that the synthesis depends greatly on pH and temperature. Silver nanoparticles have been detected by modifying the color of the algal extract and verified by the use of UV-vis and other characterizations. The Structure and characters of synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed using TEM, DLS, XRD, and FTIR. Cytotoxicity of the biosynthesized nanoparticles using provided cell lines of breast carcinoma cells (MCF-7) and human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2). Results Shape of silver nanoparticles at pH 9, 75°C for 30 min and was found to be suitable for the biosynthesis process and the AgNPs exhibited a characteristic absorption peak at 434nm. High resolution Electron Microscope Transmission (HR-TEM) reported polydisperse and spherical shapes ranging from 8 to 15 nm. High attractive and repulsive forces between each nanoparticle were recorded with an average zeta potential value of approximately −29.3 mV for C. myrica extract NPs. The X-ray diffraction study revealed the crystalline structure of silver nanoparticles. FT-IR has shown the bioreduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles through biomolecules found in C. myrica extract. Silver nanoparticles have been found to have anticancer activity. The cytotoxicity assay was studied against MCF-7 and HepG2 at various concentrations (100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25, 3.125, 1.56, 0.78, 0.39, 0.2 and 0.1 μg/mL). By increasing the concentration of AgNPs from 0.1 to 100 μg/mL the maximum percentage of viability against MCF-7 and HepG2 cell line decreased from 94.55 ± 7.55 to 19.879 ± 0.503 and from 78.56 ± 11.36 to 25.81 ± 2.66 after time exposure respectively. Conclusions The silver nanoparticles from Cystoseira myrica have cytotoxicity activity against MCF-7 breast carcinoma cell line and HepG2 human hepato cellular carcinoma cell line.