Abstract
Cancer is by far the most serious threat to human health and quality of life, with breast cancer being the most common diagnosis in women. Gold nanoparticles together with plant extracts have been shown to have anti-cancer properties. Biosynthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have piqued the interest of researchers in the biomedical field because they are nontoxic, quick to synthesise, environmentally friendly, and costeffective. In the current study, Lecaniodiscus cupanioides chloroform leaf extract and triterpenoids were used as a reducing agent. Varies characterization techniques were employed; UV-vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and fourier transmission infrared ray (FTIR). Anticancer activity of capped-AuNP was tested against MCF-7 using MTT assay. The morphology analysis was made using a light inverted microscope. The formation of AuNPs was observed with color change from yellow to red/purple, UV-vis was used to further confirm this maximum absorption peaks were found at 540-550 nm. The zeta potential of Lecaniodiscus cupanioides-AuNPs (LC-AuNPs) and triterpenoids- AuNPs (ZJ-AuNPs) were -31.8 and -35.8 mV respectively. Polydispersive index values ranged from 0.2360-0.773 and zeta-sizer ranged from 25.84-35.98 nm. The HRTEM micrograph of LC-AuNPs showed spherically shaped AuNPs with a particle size of 32 nm and ZJ-AuNPs showed a few triangular and spherical shaped AuNPs with an average particle size of 21 nm. The surface chemistry analysis (FTIR) showed that (-OH and -NH) groups were responsible for reduction, capping and stabilizing AuNPs. The morphology analysis showed that when the concentration of AuNPs increased MCF-7 cells shrank and lost the morphology. The cytotoxic response observed was in a concentration-dependent manner. The half inhibitory concentration (IC50) values for the LC-AuNPS and ZJ-AuNPs against the MCF-7 cell line were 74.04 and 130.87 μg/mL respectively within a 24-hour exposure. Therefore, the results suggest the anti-cancer potential of biosynthesized AuNPs against breast cancer cells (MCF-7) this capped- AuNPs can play a vital role in the development of a new chemotherapy agent.
M.Sc. (Nanoscience)