Egg white-mediated green synthesis of silver nanoparticles with excellent biocompatibility and enhanced radiation effects on cancer cells

Renquan Lu¹, Dapeng Yang², Daxiang Cui², Zhongyang Wang³, Lin Guo^1
1Department of Clinical Laboratory, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, ²Department of Bio-Nano-Science and Engineering, National Key Laboratory of Nano/Micro Fabrication Technology, Key Laboratory for Thin Film and Microfabrication of Ministry of Education, Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, ³College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Shan Dong Province, People's Republic of China

Abstract: A simple, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly approach to the aqueous-phase synthesis of silver (Ag) nanoparticles was demonstrated using silver nitrate (AgNO₃) and freshly extracted egg white. The bio-conjugates were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, and dynamic light scattering. These results indicated that biomolecule-coated Ag nanoparticles are predominantly spherical in shape with an average size of 20 nm. The proteins of egg white, which have different functional groups, played important roles in reducing Ag⁺ and maintaining product attributes such as stability and dispersity. In vitro cytotoxicity assays showed that these Ag-protein bio-conjugates showed good biocompatibility with mouse fibroblast cell lines 3T3. Furthermore, X-ray irradiation tests on 231 tumor cells suggested that the biocompatible Ag-protein bio-conjugates enhanced the efficacy of irradiation, and thus may be promising candidates for use during cancer radiation therapy.

Keywords: green chemistry, biosynthesis, egg white, Ag nanoparticles, X-ray irradiation

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