Mycosynthesis and Physicochemical Characterization of Vanadium Oxide Nanoparticles Using the Cell-Free Filtrate of Fusarium oxysporum and Evaluation of Their Cytotoxic and Antifungal Activities

Green nanotechnology is an expanding branch of knowledge in relation to producing efficient antifungal compounds with potential applications as nanomedicines. The aim of the current investigation was to mycosynthesize functional vanadium oxide nanoparticles (V(2)O(5)NPs) by Fusarium oxysporum cell-free filtrate using ammonium metavanadate (NH4VO3) as the substrate. Various spectrometric methods and electron microscopy were used to confirm the production of mycosynthesized V(2)O(5)NPs. FESEM and TEM images showed that V(2)O(5)NPs were in the size ranging from 10 to 20 nm in a spherical shape. The XRD pattern revealed the presence of crystalline, dominantly spherical V(2)O(5)NPs in the sample with a size ranging from 10 to 20 nm. The XRD peaks 15.2, 20.1, 21.6, 26.1, 30.9, 32.2, 33.1, 34.2, 41.0, 41.8, 45.3, 47.2, 48.6, 51.1, 51.9, 55.4, and 58.8 can be assigned to the plane of vanadium crystals and indicate that the V(2)O(5)NPs were face-centered, cubic, and crystalline in nature. The FTIR results showed the presence of some biomolecules in fungal cell-free filtrate that act as a bioreducing and capping agent for V2O5NP mycosynthesis. DLS showed that the size of V(2)O(5)NPs was 10-20 nm. Zeta potential showed -35.09 mV for V(2)O(5)NPs with a single peak. Study of antifungal activity of V(2)O(5)NPs against various pathogenic fungi in concentrations of 5, 25, 50, and 100 mu g/mL showed that V(2)O(5)NPs strongly inhibited both mycelium growth (20.3 to 67.3%) and spore germination (64.8 to 89.9%) dose-dependently. V(2)O(5)NPs showed strong cytotoxicity against breast cancer cell-line MCF-7 with an IC50 value of 55.89 mu g/mL. Microscopy images showed morphological changes and reduction of cancer cell populations in V2O5NP-treated MCF-7 cell-line. Taken together, our results demonstrated that bioactive V(2)O(5)NPs successfully synthesized by F. oxysporum could be considered a potential candidate in drug development against life-threatening fungal pathogens and as a feasible anticancer agent.

Automated summary

Green nanotechnology is utilized to produce functional vanadium oxide nanoparticles (V2O5NPs) using Fusarium oxysporum cell-free filtrate as a bioreducing and capping agent. The synthesized V2O5NPs exhibited strong antifungal activity and cytotoxicity against breast cancer cell-line MCF-7, suggesting their potential applications in drug development against fungal pathogens and cancer.