Evaluation of biologically synthesized Au-CuO and CuO-ZnO nanoparticles against glioma cells and microorganisms

Due to the search for new methods of producing bimetallic nanoparticles, in this work, we have conducted a biological synthesis of Au-CuO and CuO-ZnO nanoparticles using Cnici benedicti. The synthesized Au-CuO and CuO-ZnO nanoparticles were also analyzed in terms of their antibacterial activity, as well as their influence on cell viability, using two specific cell lines: C6 rat brain glioma (ATCC® CCL-107™) and T98G human glioma (ATCC® CRL-1690™). The studies carried out by means of Atomic Force Microscopy helped to determine the presence Au-CuO nanoparticles whose size was about 13 nm. The size of CuO-ZnO nanoparticles was about 28 nm. The obtained nanoparticles showed cidal activity against glioma cells depending on the concentration of the substance and the time of culture. In the first stage, the nanoparticles limited the ability to divide cells; then, they blocked the cell cycle in the G2 – M phase, and finally led to massive cell death. The antimicrobial activity studies showed that Au-CuO nanoparticles inhibited the growth of microorganisms at lower concentrations than CuO-ZnO nanoparticles, and both kinds of nanoparticles showed excellent cidal properties.