One-pot facile synthesis of silk sericin-capped gold nanoparticles by UVC radiation: Investigation of stability, biocompatibility, and antibacterial activity.

Herein, an easy one-pot synthesis method for gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), involving only gold salt and sericin extracted from silkworm cocoon in the presence of ultraviolet C (UVC) radiation, was developed. Nanoparticle formation was confirmed by characteristic surface plasmon resonance peaks at 520-540 nm wavelengths, and the influence of silk sericin on enhancing the colloidal stability of AuNPs was confirmed. Transmission electron microscopy examination showed the average size (<10 nm) and size distribution decreased significantly with higher sericin concentration. No antibacterial activity was observed on Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis or Gram-negative Escherichia coli for sole AuNPs (0.065-0.26 mg/ml), but the conjugation of AuNPs with streptomycin antibiotic decreased significantly the required minimum inhibitory concentration doses, as also confirmed with agar plating, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy analyses. Furthermore, sericin-capped AuNPs showed high cell viabilities (>100%) and no sign of any detectable apoptosis or necrosis in 1-day incubation. Also, high real-time cell proliferation results of AuNPs competitive with positive control groups implied excellent in vitro biocompatibility. These results evidenced that sericin enhanced the colloidal stability of AuNPs and the biological activities of sericin-capped AuNPs reported here could render them suitable nanoscale vehicles for biomedical applications.