Effect of morphology and (Sn, Cr) doping on in vitro antiproliferation properties of hydrothermally synthesized 1D GaOOH nanostructures

Abstract GaOOH powders of submicron dimensions were synthesized through a simple, surfactant-free hydrothermal synthesis at pH values of 7 and 14. Sn and Cr at concentrations of 2 mol% and 1 mol%, respectively, were successfully incorporated into a GaOOH lattice at pH 7. The synthesized powders were characterized through XRD, SEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, XPS, and PL spectroscopy to untangle their structural, morphological, optical, elemental, and compositional- and defect-level analyses, respectively. All samples were individually tested for their in vitro anti-proliferation activities against three human cancer cell line profiles, namely, lung carcinoma (A549), colon adenocarcinoma (LoVo), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HuH-7). All samples showed obtrusive anti-proliferation activity against the three cancer line profiles. An apoptotic cell killing mechanism was found in the studied samples after successful analysis of various staining assays and flowcytometric analyses in the A549 cancer cell profile. Cr loading at 1 mol% enhanced the cancer cell inhibition property of GaOOH against all cancer cells investigated. Also, the morphology and doping levels were observed to have a collective effect on the anti-proliferation activity of GaOOH with specificity in treating certain cancer cells.