Toxicity and immunomodulatory efficacy of biosynthesized silver myconanosomes on pathogenic microbes and macrophage cells

Abstract

Silver myconanosomes prepared from Alternaria brassicae may exhibit potential antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activity due to their inimitable character. The prepared myconanosomes were characterized by using differential light scattering, zeta potential, UV–visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopic analyses. Mycologically produced AgNPs were found as spherical and irregular shaped measuring size range between 55.4 and 70.23 nm. The antimicrobicidal activity of these AgNPs against pathogenic microbes was evaluated by agar well diffusion method. Results showed that AgNPs inhibit the growth of various bacteria and fungi, which may be due to the disruption of cell membranes, leakage of cytoplasm and DNA degradation. Cytotoxicity analysis of AgNPs on cell lines revealed its dose dependent effect. Moreover, significant increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species was characterized in AgNPs treated cells after 4 h of incubation. Thus, AgNPs may have a significant advantage over conventional antibiotics as microorganisms are acquiring resistance against the broad range of available antibiotics.