Abstract

GREEN-SYNTHESIZED NICKEL–CURCUMIN NANOPARTICLE AS A MULTI-TARGET ANTIFUNGAL AGENT AGAINST MULTIDRUGRESISTANT Candida albicans

Sahil Ahamed, Anirban Mukherjee*

Abstract

This study explored a green-synthesized nickel–curcumin nanocomposite as a potential antifungal agent against multidrug-resistant fungi Candida albicans isolated from an oral candidiasis patient sample. As a phytochemical, Curcumin was chosen and extracted from Curcuma longa, optimized for solvent efficiency, and was employed to synthesize nickel nanoparticles under alkaline conditions. Following that, antifungal susceptibility testing, an EMSA-based DNA damage assay, viscosity measurements, SDS-PAGE profiling, and molecular docking were performed to evaluate the nanocomposite. The isolate exhibited diminished susceptibility to standard antifungals, thereby validating an MDR phenotype. The nickel–curcumin composite nanoparticles exhibited enhanced antifungal efficacy compared to curcumin alone, induced DNA fragmentation which was elevated and revalidated with ctDNA for viscosity indicative of nucleic acid interaction along with modified stress-related protein expression in treated fungal cells. Molecular docking studies confirmed favourable interactions of nanocomposite with C. albicans DNA, Als3, and Hsp90, that indicates a multi-target mechanism in action. In general, the results showed that the nickel–curcumin nanocomposite can perform antifungal properties by causing genomic disruption, protein stress, which can interfere with virulence-related targets. This makes it a unique choice for more preclinical research on drug-resistant candidiasis.

Keywords: Nickel nanoparticles green synthesis; Curcumin; Candida albicans; Antifungal resistance; DNA damage; Molecular docking.