Mitigating the toxicity of palmitoylated analogue of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone(11–13) by conjugation with gold nanoparticle: characterisation and antibacterial efficacy against methicillin sensitive and resistant Staphylococccus aureus

In an attempt to develop potent and non-toxic antimicrobial agent, the palmitoylated analogue of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone(11–13), Pal-α-MSH(11–13) was conjugated with gold nanoparticles (GNPs) for the first time and the efficacy of derived complex was investigated against two strains of Staphylococccus aureus. The GNPs were synthesized using tri-sodium citrate as reductant and Pal-α-MSH(11–13) was conjugated thereafter. The particles were characterised by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy etc. Conjugation occurred via electrostatic interaction between anionic GNPs and cationic Pal-α-MSH(11–13). The zeta potential of GNP-Pal-α-MSH(11–13) was − 26.91, indicating its stability. The antibacterial activity was determined by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and killing kinetics assay, whereas, inhibition of biofilm formation was studied by determining the biofilm biomass by crystal violet dye binding method, viability of biofilm-embedded cells by counting CFUs and metabolic activity by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The toxicity was analysed by hemolysis assay against murine RBCs and cytotoxicity against 3T3 fibroblasts. The MIC was 18 µM for GNP-Pal-α-MSH(11–13) and 12 µM for Pal-α-MSH(11–13). The killing kinetics and biofilm inhibition studies indicated the comparable efficacy of peptide before and after nano-conjugation. Importantly, the conjugation resulted in diminished toxicity, as evidenced by 0.29 ± 0.03% hemolysis and 100% viable fibroblasts at 72 µM compared to the Pal-α-MSH(11–13), showing 74.99 ± 1.59% hemolysis and 59.39 ± 1.06% viable fibroblasts. The nano-fabrication drastically reduced the peptide toxicity without compromising its antibacterial efficacy. The anionicity of the conjugate may be responsible for non-toxicity that makes them suitable for pharmaceutical applications. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11274-022-03365-7.