Antioxidant, anti-acetylcholinesterase, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities of Morin–Cu(II) hybrid Nanoflowers

Abstract

In recent years, various nanostructures, including nanoflowers, have attracted attention due to their effective biomedical properties. In this study, M@hNFs were synthesized using morin as the organic component and Cu²⁺ ions as the inorganic component. The prepared nanoflowers were characterized by SEM, EDX, FTIR, and XRD analyses, and their biological activities were subsequently investigated, including anticancer effects against MCF-7 breast cancer cells, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity, antioxidant capacity, antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli (MDR E. coli) using the broth microdilution method, as well as antibiofilm activity against MRSA and MDR E. coli. SEM analysis revealed that the synthesized M@hNFs exhibited a diameter of 24.69 μm. Antioxidant assays demonstrated IC₅₀ values of 131.3 μg/mL (DPPH) and 51.3 μg/mL (ABTS). The AChE inhibitory activity was confirmed with an IC₅₀ value of 72.2 ± 2.1 μg/mL. Furthermore, M@hNFs reduced the viability of MCF-7 cells to 56 % at 500 μg/mL. In antibacterial assays, the synthesized hNFs exhibited stronger activity compared with morin alone, showing the most potent effect against E. faecalis with a MIC value of 32 μg/mL. Importantly, the hNFs also demonstrated activity against resistant strains, inhibiting MRSA and MDR E. coli at 256 μg/mL. At 1024 μg/mL, M@Cu-hNFs inhibited biofilm formation by MRSA and MDR E. coli by 69.7 % and 66.3 %, respectively. Taken together, these findings indicate that the prepared M@hNFs possess multiple biomedical properties and hold significant potential for further studies and future biomedical applications.