Nano Ag@bioactive microspheres from marine sponge Clathria frondifera: Fabrication, fortification, characterization, anticancer and antibacterial potential evaluation

Bioresources are attaining much importance in the discovery of drugs and delivering agents. In particular, marine sponges are of great interest due to their metabolites production for the survival in risky environment. The incorporation of silver nanoparticles with marine sponge derived metabolites was reported for the first time. In this work, a facile material has been generated of great efficacy in solving environmental and health issues, as a recipe of silver and marine sponge Clathria frondifera, named as Ag Fortified Sponge spheres (AFS). AFS spheres were successfully synthesized after method optimization, using the various extracts of marine sponge Clathria frondifera as effective reducing agent in Ag (I) to Ag (0) reduction. Bioactive material from marine sponge and AgNP from the reduction of AgNO3 solution stablishing one another and thus AFS spheres were attaining long lifetime along with enhanced antimicrobial activity. The characterization of synthesized AFS and other AgNPs (1-4) has done using FT-IR, PXRD, FESEM, TEM, and UV-vis data. The presence of functional groups such as, Ag-O, and Ag-C stretching bonds in the AFS compounds indicated that it is composed of silver oxides and organo-silver, respectively. The synthesized Ag NPs were found to be spherical like structure with an average size of similar to 20 nm. The cytotoxic response of AFS was assessed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and morphological changes. AFS are exact spherical, micro sized and effective in inhibiting the growth of both gram positive and gram-negative bacteria. Anticancer studies were also carried out and ensued with excellent activity in the HELA cells with potential application in the medical industry.

Automated summary

Bioresources are gaining importance in the field of drug discovery and delivery. Marine sponges, in particular, have attracted great interest due to their production of metabolites for survival in harsh environments. This study reports the incorporation of silver nanoparticles with metabolites derived from a marine sponge Clathria frondifera. The synthesized material, called Ag Fortified Sponge spheres (AFS), showed great efficacy in addressing environmental and health issues. AFS spheres were successfully synthesized using marine sponge extracts as reducing agents, resulting in long-lasting antimicrobial activity. The characterization of AFS and other silver nanoparticles was performed using various analytical techniques. AFS was found to be composed of silver oxides and organo-silver compounds. The cytotoxic response of AFS was evaluated and showed excellent activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Anticancer studies also demonstrated promising results. Overall, this study highlights the potential of marine sponge-derived metabolites and silver nanoparticles in drug discovery and delivery.