Hydrogel assisted synthesis of gold nanoparticles with enhanced microbicidal and in vivo wound healing potential
Zahra Batool, Gulzar Muhammad, Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Arshad Raza, Noreen Sajjad, Muhammad Abdullah, Naeem Akhtar, Asad Syed, Abdallah M. Elgorban, Salim S. Al‐Rejaie, Zahid Shafiq
Abstract
The present study reports a hydrogel-based sunlight-assisted synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with enhanced antimicrobial and wound healing potential. The hydrogel extracted from the seeds of Cydonia oblonga was used as a reducing and capping agent to synthesize Au NPs for the first time. The as-synthesized Au NPs were characterized for an average size, shape, surface functionalization, antimicrobial, and wound healing capabilities. The cubic and rectangular-shaped Au NPs with an average edge length of 74 ± 4.57 nm depicted a characteristic surface plasmon resonance band at 560 nm. The hydrogel-based Au NPs inhibited the growth of microorganisms in zones with 12 mm diameter. In-vitro experiments showed that a minimum inhibitory concentration of Au NPs (16 µg/mL) was sufficient to mimic the 95% growth of pathogenic microorganisms in 24 h. In vivo treatment of wounds with Au NPs in murine models revealed a 99% wound closure within 5 days. Quantitative PCR analysis performed to decipher the role of Au NPs in enhanced wound healing showed an increase in the expression levels of NANOG and CD-34 proteins.