Photodynamic activity and DNA binding studies of Pd@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles in vitro

Abstract Metal-semiconductor core-shell type Pd@SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized by Stober’s method and the product was characterized by UV–vis, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, HR-TEM and EDX techniques. In vitro Photodynamic activity and DNA binding studies of Pd@SiO2 core shell nanoparticles were studied. Cell viability of the core-shell nanoparticles against HeLa cell line was screened by MTT assay after exposing at different light doses. The outcome of the present study indicates that the core-shell Pd@SiO2 NPs are highly stable and exhibited strong photodynamic efficiency under LED light illumination in HeLa cells. The results indicated that SiO2 supported on the surface of Pd NPs not only prevented the aggregation in addition exhibited remarkable photodynamic activity.