Enhanced Cytotoxicity of Biomolecules Loaded Metallic Silver Nanoparticles Against Human Liver (HepG2) and Prostate (PC3) Cancer Cell Lines

Green nanoparticle synthesis was achieved using environmentally acceptable plant extracts reducing and capping agents. The present study was based on assessments to the anticancer activities to determine the effect of synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from three medicinal plants on human liver (HepG2) and prostate (PC3) cancer cell lines. The synthesis of AgNPs using Plumbago zeylanica (Pz), Semecarpus anacardium (Sa) and Terminalia arjuna (Ta) plant extracts in the reaction mixture was monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy. FTIR results clearly illustrated that the plant extracts containing prominent peaks of functional groups and biomolecules viz., tannins, phenols, flavonoids and triterpenoids those act as capping agents and involved in the stabilization of the synthesised silver nanoparticles. Synthesized AgNPs were spherical and cuboid in shape which is determined by SEM. Average size of the AgNPs were between 80–98, 60–95 and 34–70 nm for PzAgNPs, SaAgNPs and TaAgNPs, respectively. Further, the synthesized AgNPs were characterized by XRD, EDX, DLS and Zeta potential analysis. Moreover, the synthesized AgNPs exhibited a dose-dependent cytotoxicity against human liver and prostate cancer cell lines. The inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of HepG2, PC3 and Vero cells were found to be 70.97, 58.61, 96.41; 10.04, 42.77, 83.86; and 28.42, 41.78, 69.48 μg/ml for PzAgNPs, SaAgNPs and TaAgNPs at 48 h incubation. An induction of apoptosis was confirmed by DNA fragmentation, Hoechst, Rhodamine and AO/EtBr staining. The present results strongly suggested that the AgNPs synthesized using P. zeylanica, S. anacardium and T. arjuna extracts showed potential anticancer activity of HepG2 and PC3 cell lines.