Synthesis, Characterization and Comparative Anticancer Potential of Phytosynthesized Mono and Bimetallic Nanoparticles Using Moringa oleifera Aqueous Leaf Extract

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 (AgNO3) and tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl4) 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 IC50 value in the range of 9.20-21.46 mu g/mL compared to that of bimetallic NPs (Ag-Au NPs) with IC50 value of 37.22-49.94 mu g/mL. Whereas, silver NPs (AgNPs) didn't show cytotoxic activity till a concentration of 60 mu g/mL in all the three cell lines tested for 24 h. Hence, this study supports the effectiveness of phytosynthesized AuNPs for the development of anticancer agents.