Therapeutic Study of the Synthesized Nanoparticles and Their Mechanistic Evaluation as an Anticancer Agent

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, lung and prostate cancer is more common among men, and lung, breast, and cervical cancer are the top killer diseases among women. With the advancement of nanotechnology, the involvement of nano-sized materials improves and revolutionizes the treatment modalities of already existing processes in cancer therapeutics. This study evaluated the anticancer and antimicrobial potentials of the synthesized zinc oxide (ZnO) and silver oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles from the leaves of Lagerstroemia indica (L. indica) on cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa cells), breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7), and a few bacterial and fungal strains. Analytical experiments have been used to characterize the synthesized nanoparticles. ZnO nanoparticles of 19.66 nm in size exhibited 50% cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells and HeLa cells, respectively, at concentrations of 36.28 µg/ml and 30.10 µg/ml. Ag2O nanoparticles of size 9.98 nm were 50% cytotoxic to MCF-7 and HeLa cells at concentrations of 46.22 µg/ml and 39.39 µg/ml, respectively. Both nanoparticles showed a subsequent reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Compared to the conventional medication, Camptothecin, the acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining revealed more early and late apoptotic cells. Caspase-3 and p53 levels were increased by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) against both the cell lines and these NPs do not have any hemolytic potential on human RBCs. Therefore, with additional in vivo tests, the synthesized nanoparticles from the medicinal plant L. indica might be employed as an anticancer drug. newline