Abstract
Nanotechnology and its use in medicine is a rapidly emerging arena of exploration. Various procedures are applied to synthesize materials at the nanoscale. Among such methods, biosynthesis is an eco-friendly approach that has several advantages over conventional methods. In the present report, we have synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using marine fungus Alternaria chlamydospora for the first time at the international level. The materialization of AuNPs was initially observed by means of analysis using UV-Vis spectrophotometry at regular intervals. The role of the natural compounds of fungi in aiding the synthesis process was identified by the FT-IR spectra. Further, the size, shape and nature of such materials were analyzed by adopting procedures that use tools such as XRD, SEM and TEM. Analyses of morphology using electron microscopy disclosed that majority of the synthesized AuNPs were spherical and belonged to the nano-regime. The antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxicity studies indicated a dose-dependent response by the AuNPs. Further, the inhibition of DPPH radical by AuNPs was elucidated by analyzing the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value (224.97 +/- 0.56 mu g/mL). The inhibiting effect of AuNPs on the growth of four different bacterial pathogens with increasing concentrations of the nanomaterial was noted by measuring the zone of inhibition. The cytotoxicity of the materials was tested against A549 cell lines via MTT assay to determine their anticancer effect. The IC50 value was 121.79 mu g/mL. These significant outcomes of the research specify the potential of AuNPs and identify it to be a good tool for applications in pharmacology.