It has been previously stated that gold nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized using various green extracts of plants. The synthesized gold nanoparticles were characterized under scanning electron microscopy and EDX to identify the size of the nanoparticles. It was found that the nanoparticles were around 30 nm in size, which is a commendable nano dimension achieved through a plant mediated synthesis. The nanoparticles were further studied for their various applications. In the current study, we have made attempts to exploit the anticancer ability of the gold nano particles. The nanoparticles were studied against MCF 7 breast cancer cell lines. The results obtained from the studies of anticancer activity showed that gold nanoparticles gave an equivalent good results, in par with the standard drugs against cancer. The AuNP's proved to be efficient even from the minimum concentrations of 2 lg/ml, and as the concentration increased the anticancer efficacy as well increased.

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Background Globally, HIV/AIDS is a major public health issue. Currently, available antiretroviral therapy (ART) has a number of impediments. The need for long-term usage of antiretroviral drugs is associated with the problem of drug resistance, high cost, and other side effects. Hence, there is a constant urge for the development of novel drugs to combat the disease. The synthesis of nanoparticles is of great interest because of their reported application in diverse fields. In contrast to chemical synthesis, green synthesis is inexpensive and enviro-safe. Results Calophyllum inophyllum (CI) is a plant that is known to possess anti-HIV activity. Hence, this plant was exploited for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the present study. Two parts of the plant, namely, the fruit and leaves (CIF and CIL) were used for the synthesis of nanocompounds. The two nanocompounds were tested on HIV-1 isolates at different concentrations and the EC50 values were determined. While CIF-AuNP demonstrated very good anti-HIV activity with an EC50 value of 0.09097 ng/ml, CIL-AuNPs did not show significant anti-HIV activity. Conclusions The present study is a novel attempt to produce nanocompounds that incorporate the medicinal properties of certain plants that are known to have anti-HIV activity within nanoparticles, such that the compound possesses the attributes of a nanomaterial alongside the phytoactivity. Our results provide evidence to suggest that the CIF-AuNP can be further explored for in vivo activity. In vitro cytotoxicity of the AuNPs was checked in VERO cell lines using the MTT assay. Cytotoxicity was observed to be minimal at all the tested concentrations.

Background In the present study, the medicinal plants were exclusively selected based on their significant anti-HIV and anticancer activities. The green synthesis of gold nanoparticles was carried out using the 15 medicinal plant extracts on reduction with chloroauric acid. The present study also focused on a novel pharmacognostic approach over the usage of plants source. The nanoparticle synthesized through medicinal plants possessed the potential therapeutic properties of the plants. The resultant nanoparticle carried the attributes of a nanomaterial alongside the phytoactivity. Results Initially, individual nanoparticle (NP) was synthesized through a single plant extract and studied for its effective anti-HIV and anticancer activity. Finally, a nanoconjugate (NC) comprising of the 3 extracts (trio extract) in one nanoparticle was synthesized. The nanoparticles which exhibited comparatively high anti-HIV and anticancer activity were chosen for the synthesis of nanoconjugate, thereby achieving a synergistic anticancer and anti-HIV activity. Further, a nanodrug conjugate (NDC) was prepared in combination of AuNPs and the chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin (Dox) for cancer and AuNPs with antiretroviral drug azidothymidine (AZT) for HIV. Conclusions A nanodrug conjugate helps to enhance the efficiency of the drug. The nanodrug conjugate brings about a combinatorial effect of the nanomaterials and the drug. Further, a biocompatible nanocarrier was developed as a conjugate with chitosan and gold nanoparticles using STPP as gelating agent for the drug doxorubicin. The synthesis reaction was optimized under various underlying parameters. The gold nanoparticles proved to be stable at high temperature and different buffers and ensured to be a safe option for bioassays and in vivo applications. Upon storing the synthesized AuNPs at different storage conditions, the nanoparticles were observed to be highly stable for a period of more than 48 months. The present study resulted in biosynthesis of highly stable gold nanoparticles using medicinal plant extracts as reducing and stabilizing agents.

Background The expression of apoptotic family of protein plays a major role in induction of programmed cell death. There are six major apoptotic proteins such as Caspase 12, Bcl 2, BAX, Cytochrome c, PARP3 and Mcl1. All these proteins have crucial role in the regulation of apoptosis through mitochondrial degradation, DNA damage, nuclear condensation and eventually cell death of the cancerous cells. It was observed that the apoptotic pathway has been initiated in the cancer cells from the expression of the apoptotic proteins. The results emphasized that the apoptotic cell death has been induced by the nanomaterials against cervical cancer HeLa cell line. Methods Initially, the nanomaterials were individually checked for potential anticancer activities through MTT assay. The cervical cancer HeLa cell line was treated with nanoparticles, nanoconjugates, nano-dox conjugate and chitosan–nano-dox conjugates. The cell lysates were processed for SDS–PAGE followed by Western blotting. The apoptotic expression has been studied for six major apoptotic proteins such as Caspase 12, Bcl 2, BAX, Cytochrome c, PARP3 and Mcl 1. Results In the present study, the biosynthesized gold nanoparticles, nanoconjugates, nano-dox conjugate, chitosan–nano-dox conjugate were treated against cervical cancer HeLa cell line. The results demonstrated anticancer effects of the nanocompounds implying nanoparticles induced apoptotic pathway in the cancer cells. Further apoptotic expression was studied for six major apoptotic proteins such as Caspase 12, Bcl 2, BAX, Cytochrome c, PARP3 and Mcl 1. The present study was focussed on anticancer efficiency of biosynthesized nanomaterials. Conclusions The in vitro anticancer study showed that the nanomaterials induced cell death over the treated cervical cancer cells. In the process of apoptotic cell death, the caspase cascade pathway was activated. The gene expression was checked in line with some of the genes involved in apoptosis, cell death. The expression was checked for Caspase 12, BAX, Bcl2, cyt c, PARP3 and Mcl 1. The expression of apoptotic proteins suggested that the cancer cell death was mediated through ER stress-induced pathway involving the major apoptotic proteins.