Green Synthesis of Indole-pyrazole-capped Cadmium Sulphide Quantum Dots and Evaluation of Their Cytotoxicity Activity and Protein Interaction

• Published in: Nano biomedicine and engineering 2024-09, Vol.16 (3), p.460-472
• Main Authors: Majola, Senzekile, Sabela, Myalowenkosi, Gengan, Robert M., Makhanya, Talent R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: drug delivery; human serum albumin (hsa); moringa oleifera leaf extract; mtt assay; pyrazole-capped cdsqds
• ISSN: 2097-3837; 2150-5578
• DOI: 10.26599/NBE.2024.9290077

Plant extracts play an essential role in bioreducing metal ions and capping the resultant nanomaterials. We report the green synthesis of indole pyrazole-capped cadmium sulfide quantum dots (TRPIDC-CH3CdSQDs) using Moringa oleifera leaf extract and indole pyrazole ligand. Morphological analysis using a high-resolution electron microscope indicated the presence of spherical particles with an average diameter of 4.5 nm. The ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy results exhibited a bandgap energy of 2.95 eV, and phytochemical deposition on the TRPIDC-CH3CdSQDs was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The cytotoxicity analysis was conducted using the 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo(-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay on two cancer ((breast (MCF-7) and lung (A549)) cells and a normal human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cell. Low cytotoxic activity was found for TRPIDC-CH3CdSQDs against all three cell types, the highest activity percentage being 63.80% against MCF-7 and TRPIDC-CH3CdSQDs show a dose-dependent increase in cytotoxic activity. Spectroscopic interaction studies were undertaken with human serum albumin using UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The interactions between TRPIDC-CH3CdSQDs and human serum albumin were hydrophobic. Using corrected fluorescence data, the Stern–Volmer constant and binding constant were 2.06 × 103 and 2.85 × 103 mol·L−1, respectively. The findings indicate its potential to be used in drug delivery.