Biosynthesis of Silver, Copper, and Their Bi-metallic Combination of Nanocomposites by Staphylococcus aureus: Their Antimicrobial, Anticancer Activity, and Cytotoxicity Effect

The present study outlines an easy, cheap, and environmentally friendly way to make Staphylococcus aureus-mediated bimetallic silver-copper nanocomposites (Ag/Cu) that can fight cancer and germs. The gram-positive S. aureus synthesized Ag, Cu, and their bi-metallic nanocomposites extracellularly. We aimed to prepare the bimetallic nanocomposite in two different ways, and we compared them in terms of characterization and biological applications. The first one is a bimetallic nanocomposite (Ag/Cu_b) that was made by mixing Ag and Cu metal ions in equal amounts (50:50). Then, the whole mixture was reduced. The second is the after-reduction bimetallic nanocomposite (Ag/Cu_a), in which each metal ion was reduced separately, and then the nanocomposites were mixed (50:50%) during biological applications. Nanocomposites were characterized using UV-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that surface plasmon bands were at 320 nm for Ag NPs and 525 nm for Cu NPs, and a shift from these peaks was observed at 290 nm in the Ag/Cu_b bimetallic nanocomposite. The synthesized nanocomposites were confirmed to be in the nanoscale with 20, 40, and 80 nm spherical crystals, respectively. Nanocomposites were assayed for their antimicrobial activity against the gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the acid-fast Mycobacterium smegmatis, the gram-positive Bacillus cereus, and S. aureus, in addition to three fungal species, which were Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, and Candida albicans. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined. The Ag/Cua/Cuaetallic nanocomposite was the most potent antimicrobial compound. The anticancer activity of the tested compounds was assayed against the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG-2). Low cytotoxic activity was recorded in most assayed nanocomposites against the baby hamster kidney cell line (BHK).

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-024-01229-2.