Novel Silver-Platinum Nanoparticles for Anticancer and Antimicrobial Applications

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Cancer poses a significant global health challenge, with bacterial opportunistic infections being a major cause of mortality in patients.
• Chemotherapy improves cancer survival but elevates infection risks, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel dendritic silver-platinum (AgPt) nanoparticles.
• To evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of AgPt nanoparticles against key pathogens.
• To assess the anticancer activity and cytotoxicity of AgPt nanoparticles on cancer and healthy cells.

Main Methods:

• Dendritic AgPt nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).
• Antibacterial activity was tested against *Staphylococcus aureus*, *Pseudomonas aeruginosa*, and multi-drug resistant *Escherichia coli*.
• Anticancer effects were evaluated on glioblastoma and melanoma cell lines, with cytotoxicity assessed on fibroblast cells.

Main Results:

• TEM analysis confirmed the formation of dendrimer-shaped AgPt nanoparticles (mean size 42 ± 11nm).
• AgPt nanoparticles demonstrated significant inhibition of *S. aureus*, *P. aeruginosa*, and *E. coli*, outperforming silver nanoparticles alone.
• Selective, dose-dependent anticancer activity was observed against glioblastoma and melanoma cells, with no significant toxicity to fibroblast cells at therapeutic concentrations.

Conclusions:

• The synthesized AgPt nanoparticles exhibit potent antibacterial and selective anticancer properties.
• These nanoparticles represent a promising dual-action therapeutic agent for combating cancer and associated bacterial infections.