Synthesis, Characterization and Comparative Anticancer Potential of Phytosynthesized Mono and Bimetallic Nanoparticles Using <i>Moringa oleifera</i> Aqueous Leaf Extract
Shruti Gupta, Kiran Kumar Tejavath
Abstract
In this article, we bring up facile one-step phytosynthesis of silver (Ag), gold (Au) and Ag/Au bimetallic nanoparticles by reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) and tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl 4 ) solution, using aqueous leaf extract of Moringa oleifera, known for its medicinal properties. These nanoparticles were evaluated for their cytotoxicity potential against human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2), triple-negative breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231) and breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7). Physical characterization of these metal nanoparticles was done using different nanoparticles analysis techniques, which include UV–Vis spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). Our data suggest that these phytosynthesized nanoparticles showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on all the three tested cancer cell lines. However, AuNPs are reported to have higher cytotoxic potential with IC[Formula: see text] value in the range of 9.20–21.46[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]g/mL compared to that of bimetallic NPs (Ag–Au NPs) with IC[Formula: see text] value of 37.22–49.94[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]g/mL. Whereas, silver NPs (AgNPs) didn’t show cytotoxic activity till a concentration of 60[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]g/mL in all the three cell lines tested for 24[Formula: see text]h. Hence, this study supports the effectiveness of phytosynthesized AuNPs for the development of anticancer agents.