Synthesis of Silver Nanocomposite Based on Carboxymethyl Cellulose: Antibacterial, Antifungal and Anticancer Activities

Salem S Salem; Amr H Hashem; Al-Aliaa M Sallam; Ahmed S Doghish; Abdulaziz A Al-Askar; Amr A Arishi; Amr M Shehabeldine

doi:10.3390/polym14163352

Synthesis of Silver Nanocomposite Based on Carboxymethyl Cellulose: Antibacterial, Antifungal and Anticancer Activities

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Aug 17;14(16):3352. doi: 10.3390/polym14163352.

Authors

Salem S Salem¹, Amr H Hashem¹, Al-Aliaa M Sallam², Ahmed S Doghish^{3

4}, Abdulaziz A Al-Askar⁵, Amr A Arishi⁶, Amr M Shehabeldine¹

Affiliations

¹ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City 11884, Cairo, Egypt.
² Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain-Shams University, Abassia, Cairo 11566, Cairo, Egypt.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Badr University in Cairo (BUC), Badr City 11829, Cairo, Egypt.
⁴ Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Nasr City 11231, Cairo, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 12372, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

Abstract

Traditional cancer treatments include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. According to medical sources, chemotherapy is still the primary method for curing or treating cancer today and has been a major contributor to the recent decline in cancer mortality. Nanocomposites based on polymers and metal nanoparticles have recently received the attention of researchers. In the current study, a nanocomposite was fabricated based on carboxymethyl cellulose and silver nanoparticles (CMC-AgNPs) and their antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities were evaluated. The antibacterial results revealed that CMC-AgNPs have promising antibacterial activity against Gram-negative (Klebsiella oxytoca and Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus). Moreover, CMC-AgNPs exhibited antifungal activity against filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger, and A. terreus. Concerning the HepG2 hepatocellular cancer cell line, the lowest IC₅₀ values (7.9 ± 0.41 µg/mL) were recorded for CMC-AgNPs, suggesting a strong cytotoxic effect on liver cancer cells. As a result, our findings suggest that the antitumor effect of these CMC-Ag nanoparticles is due to the induction of apoptosis and necrosis in hepatic cancer cells via increased caspase-8 and -9 activities and diminished levels of VEGFR-2. In conclusion, CMC-AgNPs exhibited antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities, which can be used in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.

Keywords: anticancer; antimicrobial; carboxymethyl cellulose; silver nanoparticles.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the researchers supporting project number (RSP2022R505), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for funding this work.