The combined antibacterial and anticancer properties of nano Ce-containing Mg-phosphate ceramic

Mohammad M. Farag , Ali Mohamed Ahmed , Nehal M. Abdallah , Wojciech Święszkowski , Amr M. Shehabeldine

Abstract

Aim:This paper was mainly aimed at synthesis of Ce-containing nano-Mg-phosphate ceramic as a multi-functional material.Materials and methods:Two ceramics based on Mg3(PO4)2and Ce0.2Mg2.8(PO4)2formulas (MP and MP-C, re-spectively) were synthesized. The synthesized powders were characterized by XRD, TEM, Zeta potential, andFTIR. Also, their dissolution behavior was tested in Tris-HCl buffer solution. Moreover, the antimicrobial efficacywas evaluated against gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus sphaericusMTCC 511 &Staphylococcus aureusMTCC 87)and gram-negative bacteria (Enterobacter aerogenesMTCC 111 &Pseudomonas aeruginosaMTCC 1034) using dickdiffusion assay and microdilution method. Furthermore, the cell viability test was performed for the ceramics onVero cells (African green monkey kidney cells), and their antitumor activity was determined by PC3 cell line(prostatic cancer). Also, the cellular uptake was determined by theflow cytometry.Keyfindings:The results showed that the substitution of Mg by Ce decreased the particle size from 40 to 90 nmfor MP sample to 2–10 nm for MP-C sample and increased the degradation rate. Both samples showed excellentantimicrobial activities. Moreover, MP demonstrated more cell viability than MP-C on Vero cells at high con-centrations, whereas, MP-C showed more antitumor activity on PC3 cells than MP sample. Moreover, MP-Cshowed a higher cell uptake than MP due to its smaller size and more negative charge.Significance:Mg-phosphate ceramic can be used in this study successfully as a delivery system for cerium ionsand showed a high antitumor activity, which makes it highly recommended as safe and effective cancer treatment materials.