GREEN SYNTHESIZED SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING M. GLYPTOSTROBOIDES LEADS TO APOPTOSIS IN HCT-116 CELLS

Sun Chul Kang, Ashutosh Bahuguna and Imran Khan

Department of Biotechnology, Daegu University, Kyungsan, South Korea

Abstract

Colon cancer is one of the most lethal and common carcinoma occurring worldwide and there are many attempts to treat this cancer. The present work was designed to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous Metasequoia glyptostroboides Miki ex Hu cone extract and further evaluation of its anticancer potential against human colon carcinoma cell line (HCT-116 cells). Formation of AgNPs was confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy. The net surface charge and size on the AgNPs was examined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique which revealed a negative surface charge (-29.89 mV) with mean droplet size of 113.7 ± 2.4 nm. AgNPs displayed a strong anticancer activity by creating oxidative stress environment induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) which initiates many cellular events responsible for nuclei fragmentation and attenuation of mitochondrial membrane potential. Moreover, a positive role of AgNPs was observed on the key regulator of apoptosis, including Bcl2, Bax, p-JNK, and release of cytochrome C followed by activation of caspase-3. The results strongly support that AgNPs induced apoptosis in HCT-116 cells by the induction of ROS and could be a promising candidate for colon cancer therapy.

Keywords: AgNPs, HCT-116, ROS, apoptosis.