The present study reports the synthesis of ZnO-NPs using Acantholimon serotinum extracts followed by characterization and evaluation of biological activities. Field emission scanning electron microscope revealed irregular spherical morphology with a size in the range of 20–80 nm. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the synthesis of highly pure ZnO NPs with a hexagonal shape and a crystalline size of 16.3 nm. The UV-Vis spectroscopy indicates the synthesis of ZnO-NPs. FT-IR confirmed the presence of phytocomponents in the plant extract, which was responsible for nanoparticle synthesis. According to MTT results, the biosynthesized ZnO-NPs showed cytotoxic effects on human colon cancer Caco-2 (IC50: 61 µg/mL), neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y (IC50: 42 µg/mL), breast cancer MDA-MB-231 (IC50: 24 µg/mL), and embryonic kidney HEK-293 (IC50: 60 µg/mL) cell lines. Significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was measured by the DCFH-DA assay after 24 h incubation with ZnO-NPs (200 µg/mL). ZnO-NPs caused apoptotic and necrotic effects on cells, which was confirmed by Annexin V-PE/7-AAD staining and 6.8-fold increase in pro-apoptosis gene Bax and 178-fold decrease in anti-apoptosis gene Bcl-2. The well diffusion method did not show effective growth inhibition activities of the ZnO-NPs against bacteria. In conclusion, the ZnO-NPs induce cytotoxicity in cell lines through ROS generation and oxidative stress.
In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized using methanol extract of Semenovia. suffruticosa. The prepared AgNPs (SS-AgNPs) were examined by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-raydiffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Afterward, biological activities including cytotoxicity, ability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), antileishmanial and antibacterial effects were investigated. According to the UV-Vis spectroscopy, absorption peak at 430 nm indicates the synthesis of AgNPs. TEM and SEM image of AgNPs shows spherical shape with size range of 20–70 nm. FTIR analysis displayed the involvement of phytochemical constituents in synthesized nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the synthesis of highly pure AgNPs with high crystallinity and Cubic shape with crystalline size of 21.4 nm. SS-AgNPs were cytotoxic on cell lines with IC50 values of 15, 20, 20 and 26 µg/mL in HEK 293, Caco-2, SH-SY5Y and MDA-MD-231 cells, respectively. DCFH-DA assay showed that 24 h exposure to 25, 50, 100, 200 µg/mL concentrations of SS-AgNPs significantly increased production of ROS in cells that indicate oxidative stress induction by SS-AgNPs. Annexin V-PE/7-AAD staining analysis revealed a combination of apoptosis and necrosis following the exposure of Ag NPs to cells. SS-AgNPs displayed a notable bactericidal activity against Gram-negative bacterial strains. SS-AgNPs revealed remarkable antileishmanial activity against the promastigote and amastigote stages of Leishmania. major. IC50 values of SS-AgNPs were 16.17 and 6.35 using promastigote and amastigotes assay respectively. Conclusively, phytosynthesized AgNPs is effective in antileishmanial, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities.
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