Critical Evaluation of Combined Cu and FeO Nanodots with Gum Arabic Nano-Hybrids Using in-vitro Model: Flow Cytometry and Cell Viability Studies.

Background: Previous studies on synthesis and cytotoxicity effect of copper (Cu) and magnetite (FeO) nanodots against kidney and lung cancer cells Lines.

Purpose: Investigation of the effects of Cu and FeO nanodots on the reduction in viability of lung cancer (A549) and human embryonic kidney (HEK239T) cells lines.

Methods: Cu and FeO nanodots/Gum Arabic (GA) hybrids were chemically synthesized, characterized, and assessed by MTT and flow cytometry for their cytotoxicity against A549 and HEK239T cells lines.

Results: Novel hybrids of Cu and FeO nanodots were effectively synthesized by chemical deposition method in combination with GA stabilizing agent. The stabilized Cu and FeO nanodots by GA have median particle size of 4.7 nm and 7 nm respectively. Furthermore, the biological activities of Cu nanodots/ GA hybrids showed a strong reduction in viability for both A549 and HEK239T cells at 50 and 100 ng/µL, owing to their small size and high surface-area-to-volume ratio compared to FeO nanoparticles. Pre-apoptosis effect of the Cu nanodots/ GA hybrid on the treated A549 cells were 40% for 0.1 ng/µL, 91.4% for 1 ng/µL, 88% for 50 ng/ µL, and 87.7% for 100 ng/µL. However, in the treated human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells, the pre-apoptosis was found under different concentrations conditions of 89.9% for 0.1 ng/µL, 94.2% for 1 ng/µL, 76.2% for 50 ng/µL and 70.5% for 100 ng/µL. After treatment of both A549 and HEK293T cells with 100 ng/µL of Cu nanodots/GA hybrid, many cell deaths and reformed nanoparticles crystals were observed.

Conclusion: Cu nanodots/GA hybrid strongly reduce the viability of both A549 and HEK239T cells at 50 and 100 ng/µL. However, FeO nanodots/GA hybrid did not show any significant effect.