Cytotoxic activities of metallic nanoparticles biosynthesized using plant extracts and pure compounds from Cephalaria species

Green nanotechnology has been focused on new concepts and fundamental research to produce nanoparticles in high rates and low risks by the use of different sources such as microorganisms and plants. Due to the several constituents in secondary metabolites, plants play an important role in nanomaterial synthesis known as ecofriendly methods which acquired important potential in different studies. The current work aimed to synthesize different silver and zinc-based nanoparticles using Cephalaria tchihatchewii via phytobiological methods involving metallic solutions, organic extracts, and isolated compounds. Sixteen types of nanoparticles were determined in between 50 and 297 nm as diameter and characterized using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The cytotoxic activities of nanoparticles were evaluated against human lung cancer (A549), breast cancer (MDA-MB-231), prostate cancer (PC3), and healthy lung (CCD-34Lu) cell lines using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2 H-tetrazolium bromide MTT assay utilizing doxorubicin as a positive control. Against PC3 cells, the cytotoxic activity of silver nitrate and loganin-AgNPs show significant inhibition with IC₅₀ values of 2.39 ± 0.16 and 7.84 ± 1.21 respectively compared with doxorubicin (12.99 ± 1.57 µg/mL). A moderate inhibition activity was observed for Zinc sulfate, elmalienoside-B-AgNPs, methyl glycoside-AgNPs, and luteolin-7-O-glycoside-AgNPs with IC₅₀ values of 22. 27± 0.18, 11.59 ± 0.82, 12.43 ± 0.37 and 13.26 ± 1.63 µg/mL, respectively. The inhibition activity against human breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 was significantly reported with silver nitrate (2.25 ± 0.62 µg/mL), and elmalienoside-B-AgNPs (11.48 ± 0.46 µg/mL) compared with doxorubicin (11.61± 0.68 µg/mL). The cytotoxicity activities, make Cephalaria tchihatchewii plant a suitable candidate in different biopharmaceutical usages especially in anticancer activities. This study will provide a clear perspective on nanoparticles containing green synthesized pure compounds and the reaction mechanism of their activities.