Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles by Aspergillus consortium and evaluating its anticancer activity against Human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF7)

Objective : The objective of the present study is to produce silver nanoparticles from marine fungi from south west coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and evaluating their potentials with special reference to anticancer activity. Methods : Hand core pushing technique is adapted to collect marine sediment samples along the coastal environs. Distinguished Aspergillus colonies were isolated and identified by wet mount procedure. The characterized Aspergillus consortium was subjected to produce silver nanoparticles. The extracellularly synthesized nanoparticles were characterized. Silver nanoparticles were evaluated for anticancer activity against MCF7 cell line by MTT assay. The IC 50 values were determined. Results : Aspergillus consortium consist of A. niger, A. michelle and A. japonicus . Silver nanoparticles were extracellularly synthesized by the reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) to metallic silver (Ag + ) ions results in the transformation of pale yellow to dark red colour. Constant shift was observed at 420 nm while monitoring the solution by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The presence of important functional groups like –NH 3 was confirmed by FT-IR Spectroscopy. Anticancer activity of the silver nanoparticles was evaluated against MCF7. There was 100% cell inhibition when concentration of the AgNPs reached 25 µg, 50 µg and 100 µg respectively in the test solution. Notably the IC 50 value was found to be very lowest for the nanoparticles produced by A. japonicus and the value was found to be 1.47 µg/ml. Conclusions : Aspergillus consortium was found to be an ideal mycobiosystem for the production of silver nanoparticles with potential anticancer activity.