Graphene-based hydrogel silver nano-composites for antibacterial and antitumor applications: In vitro evaluation

Abstract

The efficiency of most cancer therapies and antibiotics is restricted due to several issues, including medication resistance and non-specific negative effects. Hydrogels based on graphene derivative and silver nano-particles (Ag-NPs) have been employed to overcome these limitations. In this manuscript, we synthesized gelatin methacryloyl (Gel-MA) to combine with functional nano-materials. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was synthesized by utilising ascorbic acid as a green reductant to form a composite with Gel-MA without affecting its unique characteristics. The prepared rGO and nano-composite hydrogels were characterized by the usual characteristic spectroscopic techniques. We found that the nano-composite swelled up to 2444% due to the high porosity of the hydrogel. The results demonstrated that the nanocomposite hydrogel showed higher antimicrobial activities than virgin (Gel-MA). The cytotoxicity of Gel-MA/rGO and Gel-MA/rGO/Ag composites against human lung cancer (A549) cells was evaluated using MTT assay. The Gel-MA/rGO/Ag composite showed remarkable cytotoxicity with an IC50 of 27µg/ml towards A549 cells compared with 109µg/ml of Gel-MA/rGO.

Keywords

• antibacterial
• antitumor
• gelatin
• gelatin methacryloyl
• hydrogel
• graphene nano-composites.