Background: Cancer is a disease with an enormous worldwide impact. One of the fatal complications in cancer patients are bacterial opportunistic infections. The use of chemotherapeutic drugs made cancer remission more frequent and prolonged patient survival, but, increased the risk of infections. Purpose: Address the current problem with growing pandemic cancer and considering high risks of complications with bacterial infections, the present study synthesized novel dendritic assembly of silver (Ag)-platinum (Pt) nanoparticles. Methods: Nanoparticles were characterized by TEM analysis, and the composition was confirmed by EDX. Bacterial studies were performed for Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-negative multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli. Cell experiments were performed with two different cancer cell lines, glioblastoma and melanoma to determine anticancer activity. Finally, cytotoxicity with fibroblast was tested. Results: The TEM analysis of silver-platinum (AgPt) nanoparticles showed dendrimer shape nanoparticles with a mean size of 42 ± 11nm. Elemental composition was analyzed by EDX, confirming the presence of both Ag and Pt metals. The synthesized nanoparticles significantly inhibited the growth of medically important pathogenic, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-negative multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli. Bactericidal effect of AgPt nanoparticles had greater effectiveness than silver nanoparticles. MTS assay revealed a selective and dose-dependent anticancer activity of AgPt nanoparticles over cancer cell lines glioblastoma and melanoma in the 10– 250 μg/mL concentration range. Cytotoxicity experiments with fibroblast cells showed no side effects of nanoparticles against healthy cells at a range of concentrations from 10– 50 μg/mL. Conclusion: The newly synthesized AgPt nanoparticles have a promising future as a potent anticancer agent with antibacterial properties.

Background: In nanomedicine, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have demonstrated versatile therapeutic efficiencies and, in particular, have been developed for the treatment of various cancers due to their high selectivity in killing cancer, not healthy, cells. Methods: In this study, AuNPs were conjugated with the cell-penetrating peptide Cys-(Arg)₈-Asp-Ser (CRRRRRRRRGDS) by direct cross-linking of the cysteine’s thiol group to the gold surface and a fibronectin-derived RGD group was also used due to its efficacy toward cancer cell targeting and possible promotion of healthy fibroblast functions. Results: Ultraviolet–visible absorbance spectrum and transmission electron microscope images of the synthesized peptide-capped AuNPs (PEP-AuNPs) validated the formation of AuNP aggregates. The presence of peptides on AuNPs was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and quantified by a bicinchoninic acid assay. After being modified with the arginine-rich peptide, the AuNPs possessed a positive charge, as their zeta potential increased from -23.81±8.43 mV to 8 mV on average. In this manner, an easy method to conjugate AuNPs was shown here. Further, MTS assays were performed using healthy human dermal fibroblasts. After 24 hours of treatment with PEP-AuNPs, the cell density increased dramatically to around 25,000 cells/cm². Results further showed a very high half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 69.2 µM for the PEP-AuNPs (indicating low toxicity). Conclusion: The results showed for the first time the ability of PEP-AuNPs to promote human dermal fibroblast cell viability, which after further investigation, may show an ability to replace cancerous tissue with healthy soft tissue.

Carbon nitrides can form coordination compounds or metallic oxides in the presence of transition metals, depending on the reaction conditions. By adjusting the pH to basic levels for mild synthesis with metals, composites like g-C₃N₄-M(OH)_x (where M represents metals) were obtained for nickel (II) and manganese (II), while copper (II) yielded coordination compounds such as Cu-g-C₃N₄. These materials underwent spectroscopic and electrochemical characterization, revealing their photocatalytic potential to generate superoxide anion radicals—a feature consistent across all metals. Notably, the copper coordination compound also produced significant hydroxyl radicals. Leveraging this catalytic advantage, with band gap energy in the visible region, all compounds were activated to disinfect E. coli bacteria, achieving total disinfection with Cu-g-C₃N₄. The textural properties influence the catalytic performance, with copper’s stabilization as a coordination compound enabling more efficient activity compared to the other metals. Additionally, the determination of radicals generated under light in the presence of dicloxacillin supported the proposed mechanism and highlighted the potential for degrading organic molecules with this new material, alongside its disinfectant properties.