Novel myco-fabrication of copper and nickel nanoparticles and evaluation of their effects against antibiotic resistance genes in different bacterial strains and anticancer potentials

Abstract

Several endophytic fungal species were isolated and tested for their biosynthetic capabilities of Cu-NPs and Ni-NPs, as a potentially green and simple method with low cost. A promising fungus Aspergillus terreus was found to synthesize the two types of NPs. The synthesis of Cu-NPs and Ni-NPs was confirmed by several techniques. The antibacterial activity of the synthesized NPs alone and in combinations with different antibiotics (Benzathine penicillin and Ceftriaxone) against some antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains was assessed. The results showed that the antibiotic resistance genes of the tested bacterial strains were expressed when treated with either antibiotics, Cu-NPs, or Ni-NPs alone. Otherwise, it were down-regulated when treated with a combination of NPs and antibiotics, indicating the synergistic and additive effects of such combinations. Moreover, the cytotoxic activities of Cu-NPs and Ni-NPs were evaluated, and the results confirmed their moderate safety margin against several cancer and normal cell lines. Finally, the synthesis efficiency of both NPs was optimized using the response surface methodology. Under optimal conditions, the synthesis efficiency was significantly enhanced reaching 85.08 (Cu-NPs) and 80.71 % (Ni-NPs). These findings indicate that the fungal strain is a promising biofactory for Cu-NPs and Ni-NPs with promising activities to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria and cancer.