Fungal-mediated synthesis of pharmaceutically active silver nanoparticles and anticancer property against A549 cells through apoptosis

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2019-05, Vol.26 (13), p.13649-13657
• Main Authors: Akther, Tahira, Vabeiryureilai Mathipi, Nachimuthu Senthil Kumar, Davoodbasha, MubarakAli, Srinivasan, Hemalatha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: A549 Cells; Anticancer properties; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biomolecules; Botryosphaeria; Cancer; Chemical synthesis; Cytotoxicity; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA fragmentation; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Endophytes; Energy transmission; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Free radicals; Fungi; Fungi - metabolism; Herbal medicine; Humans; Lung cancer; Medicinal plants; Metabolites; Metal ions; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Microscopy; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Nanoparticles; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Research Article; Scanning electron microscopy; Scavenging; Secondary metabolites; Silver; Silver - chemistry; Silver - pharmacology; Toxicity; Transmission electron microscopy; Tumor cell lines; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; X ray analysis
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-04718-w

Generally, fungi have the ability to secrete large amounts of secondary metabolites which have the ability to reduce metal ions to metallic nanoparticles. In this report, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by using an endophytic fungus isolated from the medicinal plant, Catharanthus roseus (Linn.). The endophytic fungus was identified as Botryosphaeria rhodina based on the ITS sequencing. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by adopting various high-throughput techniques, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and UV–Visible spectrophotometer. In vitro anticancer efficacy of AgNPs was tested on A-549 cells. The synthesized AgNPs were effective in scavenging free radicals and induced hallmarks of apoptosis including nuclear and DNA fragmentation in lung (A549) cancer cell lines under in vitro conditions. The results suggested that the natural biomolecules in the endophytic fungi incorporated into the nanoparticles could be responsible for the synergetic cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. The AgNPs were found to have cytotoxicity IC 50 of 40 μg/mL against A549 cells. To the best our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that AgNPs from Botryosphaeria rhodina could be able to induce apoptosis in various types of cancer cells as a novel strategy for cancer treatment.