| Autor: |
Souza AO; Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil., Oliveira JWF; Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59012-570, RN, Brazil., Moreno CJG; Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59012-570, RN, Brazil., de Medeiros MJC; Laboratório de Química de Coordenação e Polímeros (LQCPol), Departamento de Química, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil., Fernandes-Negreiros MM; Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil., Souza FRM; Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil., Pontes DL; Laboratório de Química de Coordenação e Polímeros (LQCPol), Departamento de Química, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil., Silva MS; Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59012-570, RN, Brazil.; Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Nova Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal., Rocha HAO; Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil. |
| Abstrakt: |
The brown seaweed Spatoglossum schröederi synthesizes three bioactive fucoidans, the most abundant of which is fucan A. This fucoidan was extracted and its identity was confirmed by chemical analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and agarose gel electrophoresis. Thereafter, silver nanoparticles containing fucan A (AgFuc) were produced using an environmentally friendly synthesis method. AgFuc synthesis was analyzed via UV-vis spectroscopy and FTIR, which confirmed the presence of both silver and fucan A in the AgFuc product. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy revealed that the AgFuc particles were ~180.0 nm in size and spherical in shape. DLS further demonstrated that AgFuc was stable for five months. Coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry showed that the AgFuc particles contained 5% silver and 95% sugar. AgFuc was shown to be more effective in inhibiting the ability of parasites to reduce MTT than fucan A or silver, regardless of treatment time. In addition, AgFuc induced the death of ~60% of parasites by necrosis and ~17% by apoptosis. Therefore, AgFuc induces damage to the parasites' mitochondria, which suggests that it is an anti- Trypanosoma cruzi agent. This is the first study to analyze silver nanoparticles containing fucan as an anti-Trypanosoma cruzi agent. Our data indicate that AgFuc nanoparticles have potential therapeutic applications, which should be determined via preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies. |
