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

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). The samples showed obtrusive anti-proliferation activity against the three cancer line profiles. An apoptotic cell killing mechanism was found in the studied samples after a 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.