Anti-cancer activity of crude Slrp protein conjugated mesoporous silica nanoparticles in HeLa Cell Lines: An in vitro approach

Microbial based therapeutics for cancer have gained a significant interest in recent decades. The present study relies on the synthesis, analysis, and conjugation of Salmonella Leucine-rich Proteins (SlrP) with mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNN) to evaluate their potential anticancer activity. The SlrP proteins were effectively produced and isolated from Salmonella enterica using Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB), and the subsequent SDS-PAGE analysis verified the presence of a band at around 72 KDa. The MSN synthesis yielded particles with an average diameter of 68.05±0.87 nm and a pore diameter of 7.1 nm.   In addition, we synthesized MSNMPA and then conjugated them with SlrP. Characterization studies confirmed the effective conjugation. The cytotoxicity evaluation conducted on HeLa cells revealed no substantial modification in cell viability upon treatment with MSN alone. Nevertheless, when MSNMPA/SlrP was done, it demonstrated significant cytotoxic properties, as evidenced by an IC50 value of 10 µg/mL. The results indicate that SlrP-conjugated MSN (MSNMPA/SlrP) could be utilized as promising nanocarriers for delivering anticancer proteins.