Quercetin-mediated synthesis of graphene oxide-silver nanoparticle nanocomposites: a suitable alternative nanotherapy for neuroblastoma

Background: Graphene and graphene-related materials have gained substantial interest from both academia and industry for the development of unique nanomaterials for biomedical applications. Graphene oxide (GO) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are a valuable platform for the development of nanocomposites, permitting the combination of nanomaterials with different physical and chemical properties to generate novel materials with improved and effective functionalities in a single platform. Therefore, this study was conducted to synthesize a graphene oxide-silver nanoparticle (GO-AgNPs) nanocomposite using the biomolecule quercetin and evaluate the potential cytotoxicity and mechanism of GO-AgNPs in human neuroblastoma cancer cells (SH-SY5Y). Methods: The synthesized GO-AgNPs were characterized using various analytical techniques. The potential toxicities of GO-AgNPs were evaluated using a series of biochemical and cellular assays. The expression of apoptotic and anti-apoptotic genes was measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Further, apoptosis was confirmed by caspase-9/3 activity and a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay, and GO-AgNPs-induced autophagy was also confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Results: The prepared GO-AgNPs exhibited significantly higher cytotoxicity toward SH-SY5Y cells than GO. GO-AgNPs induced significant cytotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells by the loss of cell viability, inhibition of cell proliferation, increased leakage of lactate dehydrogenase, decreased level of mitochondrial membrane potential, reduced numbers of mitochondria, enhanced level of reactive oxygen species generation, increased expression of pro-apoptotic genes, and decreased expression of anti-apoptotic genes. GO-AgNPs induced caspase-9/3-dependent apoptosis via DNA fragmentation. Finally, GO-AgNPs induced accumulation of autophagosomes and autophagic vacuoles. Conclusion: In this study, we developed an environmentally friendly, facile, dependable, and simple method for the synthesis of GO-AgNPs nanocomposites using quercetin. The synthesized GO-AgNPs exhibited enhanced cytotoxicity compared with that of GO at very low concentrations. This study not only elucidates the potential cytotoxicity against neuroblastoma cancer cells, but also reveals the molecular mechanism of toxicity.