Abstract
The recent increase in the usage of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) individually or the one coated with polymeric shells in the biomedical sector are helpful to control the unwanted toxicities, non-targeted localizations, enhance the probe-cellular interactions etc. Herein, we report the synthesis, characterization, and testing of photon induced gold (Au) NPs encapsulated chitin and chitosan, which are derived from unhatched Artemia cysts. In this, the chitin and chitosan biopolymers are formed by a biosynthetic route and then subjected to a reaction in the presence of HAuCl4 for the encapsulation of AuNPs. Thus formed NPs are thoroughly studied for the surface morphology, functionality, and crystallinity using SEM/TEM, DLS, and FTIR respectively. Further, the anti proliferative capacity of as-synthesized chitin and chitosan stabilized AuNPs are being tested using two different cell types of human colon cancer (HT-29) and lung cancer (A549). The human tumor cell lines confirm the specific cytotoxicity. The optimized concentration of chitin and chitosan-loaded AuNPs showed a maximum anticancer activity in human lung cancer cells (A549) as compared with colon cancer (HT-29). Also, the chitosanAuNPs have a potential cytotoxic effect against the human lung cancer cell line (A549) than that of the corresponding chitin-AuNPs. Finally, the study utilizes chitin and chitosan biopolymers generated from uncharted Artemia cysts for the formation of useful anticancer agents that has specific applications in the biomedical sector as bioimaging and drug delivering candidates.