Exploring the potential anti-inflammatory effect of biosynthesized gold nanoparticles using Isodon excisus leaf tissue in human keratinocytes

Abstract

The skin plays a crucial role in maintaining hydration, preventing dehydration, and protecting against harmful microorganisms. Skin injury can lead to inflammation and fluid loss, which are detrimental to human health. Nanotechnology has been proposed as a potential solution to prevent skin damage because it can more effectively penetrate the skin barrier and deliver targeted treatments directly to the cells that require them. In this study, we biosynthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using Isodon excisus (Maxim.) Kudo (IE) leaf tissue. The formation of IE gold nanoparticles (IE-AuNPs) was confirmed using various techniques. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of IE-AuNPs on human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) was evaluated, and it was found that the IE-AuNPs had no cytotoxic effect on HaCaT cells (50 µg/mL). The ability of IE-AuNPs to penetrate HaCaT cells and reduce skin inflammation was investigated using dark-field microscopy (DFM) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to assess inflammatory biomarkers such as IL-6, IL-8, CCL17/TARC, CCL27/CTACK, and CCL5/RANTES. Additionally, western blotting demonstrated that IE-AuNPs exhibited anti-inflammatory effects on the skin by activating autophagy biomarkers and inhibiting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway at the upstream level. Overall, our findings suggest that IE-AuNPs enhance the anti-inflammatory effect on skin cells and can be used in the development of nano-based treatments for skin-related diseases.