Thiolated-2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine protected silver nanoparticles as novel photo-induced cell-killing agents

• Silver nanoparticles were prepared using thiolated 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine as a protective agent.
• The cytotoxicity of the silver nanoparticles was evaluated.
• The photo-induced cell killing effect of silver nanoparticles was observed.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have several medical applications as antimicrobial agents such as in drug delivery and cancer therapy. However, AgNPs are of limited use because of their toxicity, which may damage the surrounding healthy tissue. In this study, thiolated-2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC-SH) protected silver nanoparticles (MPC-AgNPs) are prepared as cell-killing agents under UV irradiation. MPC-AgNPs are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–visible spectrophotometry. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band of MPC-AgNPs is observed at 404 nm, and the average diameter of the particles is determined at 13.4 ± 2.2 nm through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and at 18.4 nm (PDI = 0.18) through dynamic light scattering (DLS). Cell viability in contact with MPC-AgNPs is relatively high, and MPC-AgNPs also exhibit a cell-killing effect under UV irradiation.

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