Bioeffects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by producer of biosurfactant Bacillus subtilis strain: in vitro cytotoxicity, antioxidant properties and metabolic activities of mammalian cells

The present study is focused on the evaluation of bioeffects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by Bacillus subtilis strain I’-1a, the producer of iturin A lipopeptide biosurfactant. The following properties of biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles (bio-AgNPs) were evaluated: in vitro cytotoxicity, antioxidant properties, and metabolic activities of mammalian cells. As a control, chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles (chem-AgNPs) were used. In vitro, antioxidant activity of bio-AgNPs showed a significant effect on the scavenging of free radicals. Bio-AgNPs can be potent natural antioxidants and can be essential for health preservation against oxidative stress-related degenerative diseases, such as cancer. The cell viability of human skin fibroblasts NHDF was remarkably inhibited in the presence of both AgNPs. However, bio-AgNPs were more active than chem-AgNPs. In our experiment, microarrays PM-M1–PM-M4 were used to evaluate the growth of NHDF fibroblast cells in the presence of bio-AgNPs and chem-AgNPs. The NHDF fibroblast cells were more active in the presence of bio-AgNPs than in chem-AgNPs. Probably, the presence of biosurfactant produced by Bacillus subtilis I’-1a significantly increased the stability of biogenic AgNPs and enhanced their biological activities and specific interaction with human DNA. Furthermore, the evaluated biological activities were enhanced for the biosurfactant-based AgNPs.