Chitosan-encapsulated Gloriosa superba nanoparticles suppress cervical cancer by inhibiting SKA3-mediated PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

The development of novel treatment strategies is essential to treat Cervical Cancer (CC) as it is the fourth-leading cancer among women. Gloriosa superba is a medicinal plant that retains various pharmacological activities. It possesses significant anticancer properties that have been previously studied. However, the anticancer efficacy of the nanocombination of G. superba tuber and seed has not yet been studied in CC. This study aimed to evaluate the anticancer efficacy of chitosan-encapsulated G. superba tuber nanoparticles and chitosan-encapsulated G. superba seed nanoparticles (CEGSTNs and CEGSSNs) via targeting the SKA3-mediated PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in CC. The CEGSTNs and CEGSSNs were synthesized and characterized by UV, DLS, zeta potential, FTIR, and TEM analysis. The anticancer efficacy on cell viability, proliferation, and apoptosis was investigated, and RT-PCR was used to measure the expression of the SKA3-mediated PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in HeLa cell lines. Furthermore, the acute toxicity assessment was conducted in Wistar rats, and body weights, haematological, and biomedical parameters, as well as histopathological studies, were performed. Characterisation techniques confirmed the synthesis of CEGSTNs and CEGSSNs. Both exhibited significant anticancer activity, induced apoptosis, and downregulated SKA3 expression, which inactivated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in HeLa cells. Acute toxicity analysis showed no toxicity or adverse effects in the treatment group. Overall, these results suggested that CEGSTNs have exhibited more anticancer efficacy than CEGSSNs. Moreover, CEGSTNs induced apoptosis and suppressed the proliferation of cells via the downregulation of the SKA3-mediated PI3K/AK/mTOR pathway.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10616-025-00809-4.