Biogenesis of silver nanoparticles using leaf extracts of Asparagus racemosus and Sophora interrupta: structure characterization, antibacterial and anticancer studies

The present investigation reports simple and eco-friendly biogenesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using leaf extracts of Asparagus racemosus and Sophora interrupta. UV-Vis spectra showed absorption peaks at 413 and 420 nm respectively corresponding to A. racemosus (AR-AgNPs) and S. interrupta (SI-AgNPs). TEM, DLS, XRD and TGA studies revealed that biogenic AgNPs are monodispersed, spherical shaped, thermally stable, FCC crystals and 4-15 nm in size. Zeta potential values were found to be -28.9 and -18.6 mV respectively corresponding to SI-AgNPs and AR-AgNPs. SI-AgNPs exhibited strong antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus with inhibition zones of 11.8, 10.5, 9.8 and 9.1 mm respectively. Further SI-AgNPs exhibited significant cytotoxic properties against SKOV3, DU149, PC3 and A549 cells with IC50 values of 120.87, 191.34, 235.06 and 314.27 mu g/mL respectively. SI-AgNPs induce pronounced apoptotic effects on SKOV3 cells including loss of membrane integrity, chromatin condensation (pyknosis) and nuclear fragmentation (karyorrhexis). SI-AgNPs exhibited significant cell migration inhibition by reducing the wound healing of SKOV3 monolayers. Phytosynthesized AgNPs were found to be biocompatible towards normal (CHO) cells. [GRAPHICS] .