Nickel-gallate metal–organic framework as an efficient antimicrobial and anticancer agent: in vitro study

Abstract

Gallic acid is a natural antioxidant present in many plants such as tea, sumac, gallnut and other plants. This naturally occurring gallic acid is known to exhibit auto-oxidation under certain conditions, generating several reactive oxygen species (ROS) including superoxides, hydroxyls and hydrogen peroxide radicals that plays key roles in its antimicrobial activity. Here, we demonstrate that incorporating gallic acid as a linker in Ni-based metal organic frameworks (Ni-gallate MOFs) produces mesoporous nanostructures with antimicrobial and anticancer activity. The synthesized Ni-gallate MOFs have shown antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and antifungal activity against two different strains of fungi species. Furthermore, Ni-gallate MOFs have shown a significant cytotoxic effect on rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cells, compared to the standard anticancer drug, Doxorubicin. In this study, the Ni-gallate MOF nanostructures were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method for surface area. The antibacterial and antifungal activity of gallic acid-based mesoporous framework nanostructure were tested, suggesting that Ni-gallate MOF has a dual anticancer and antimicrobial activity.