title: Anticancer activity of Ficus religiosa engineered copper oxide nanoparticles.
abstract: The design, synthesis, characterization and application of biologically synthesized nanomaterials have become a vital branch of nanotechnology. There is a budding need to develop a method for environmentally benign metal nanoparticle synthesis, that do not use toxic chemicals in the synthesis protocols to avoid adverse effects in medical applications. Here, it is a report on an eco-friendly process for rapid synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles using Ficus religiosa leaf extract as reducing and protecting agent. The synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles were confirmed by UV-vis spectrophotometer, absorbance peaks at 285 nm. The copper oxide nanoparticles were analyzed with field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum. The FE-SEM and DLS analyses exposed that copper oxide nanoparticles are spherical in shape with an average particle size of 577 nm. FT-IR spectral analysis elucidates the occurrence of biomolecules required for the reduction of copper oxide ions. Zeta potential studies showed that the surface charge of the formed nanoparticles was highly negative. The XRD pattern revealed that synthesized nanoparticles are crystalline in nature. Further, biological activities of the synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed based on its stable anti-cancer effects. The apoptotic effect of copper oxide nanoparticles is mediated by the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) involving the disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) in A549 cells. The observed characteristics and results obtained in our in vitro assays suggest that the copper nanoparticles might be a potential anticancer agent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu, India.
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu, India.
authors.forename: Ramasamy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maheswari
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu, India.
authors.forename: Selvaraju
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karthik
authors.affiliation: Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu, India. Electronic address: shivashangari@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kanchi Subramanian
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Shivashangari
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamilnadu, India. Electronic address: ravikumarbdu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vilwanathan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ravikumar
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D030681:Ficus / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D003300:Copper; C000520:cuprous oxide
keywords: A549 cells; Anticancer activity; Copper oxide nanoparticles; Ficus religiosa; Green synthesis