Biosynthesis, mosquito larvicidal potential, and anticancer activities of gold nanoparticles from Acacia sinuata seed extract

Introduction and Aim: Worldwide, mosquitoes are the main vectors of many deadly diseases like malaria, dengue, chikungunya, etc., Anopheles stephensi mosquito which transmits malaria whereas dengue is transmitted mainly by mosquito Aedes aegypti. Current controlling methods such as chemical or microbial pesticides, repellents, biological control agents against mosquito larvae are not so effective. The leading cause of death worldwide is cancer. Nanotechnology can provide alternative effective methods for malaria, dengue and cancer control, diagnosis and treatment. This study investigated the biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from Acacia sinuata seed extract and their mosquito larvicidal potential was tested against Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi larvae. The cytotoxic activity of NPs was also analyzed against human cancer cell lines osteosarcoma (MG-63) and colon adenocarcinoma (Caco-2).   Materials and Methods: The biosynthesized NPs were confirmed and characterized by conventional techniques UV- visible spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, HR-TEM, EDX and SAED.   Results: The XRD demonstrated the NPs were face-centred, cubic, and crystalline in nature, EDX study confirmed elemental analysis of gold, SAED illustrated the crystalline nature. The HR-TEM studies revealed NPs shape which were mostly spherical and average size of 5.38nm-8.86nm. Third instar larvae of Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi, were susceptible to the larvicidal effects of AuNPs. The synthesized NPs showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect against the Caco-2 and MG-63 cell lines, with IC50 (inhibitory concentrations) of 21.31± 0.15 ug/ml and 86.78± 0.23 ug/ml, respectively.   Conclusion: These findings reveal that biosynthesized AuNPs have substantial larvicidal and anticancer properties, suggesting they could be used in mosquito control and cancer treatment.