Original Articles Vol. 3 No. 3 (2026): Bioscience Insights Published 2026-10-23

GREEN SYNTHESIZED SILVER NANOPARTICLES AGAINST CANCER CELLS: EVALUATION OF APOPTOTIC PATHWAYS

Authors

  • Fareeha F Khan Senior Medical Officer Critical Care, The Kidney Center, Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan Author
  • Rabia Khan Burki 4th Year MBBS Student, Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi Pakistan Author
  • Adnan Malik Department of Physics and Chemistry, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology (FAST), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 84600, Muar, Johor, Malaysia. Pakistan Author
  • Syed Saad Hussain Associate Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Iqra University North Campus. Pakistan Author
  • Tahreem Kouser Lecturer, Islamia University Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan Pakistan Author
  • Sarwat Ali Raja Associate Professor, Lahore. Pakistan Author
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Abstract

Background: The current classical cancer therapies are associated with systemic toxicity, damage to healthy tissues and drug resistance, and thus there is a high demand for targeted therapeutic agents with low toxicity. Recently, green nanotechnology has been developed as a sustainable, non- polluting option using natural biological extracts for the synthesis of biocompatible metallic nanomaterials avoiding the use of harmful chemicals.

The objective: To study the anticancer efficacy, oxidative stress induction and underlying mechanisms of apoptosis of the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against human cancer cell lines in an in vitro experimental setting.

Materials and Methods: Nanoparticles of silver (AgNPs) were green synthesized by aqueous extracts of plants and fully characterized by advanced spectral and analytical methods. Biological triplicates of human cancer cell lines were exposed to increasing concentrations of nanoparticles (0-100 micrograms per milliliter). Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay, and intracellular level of ROS, MDA expression and apoptotic profile were determined by the fluorometric and flow-cytometric methods, respectively.

Results: The biosynthesized silver nanoparticles showed high level of significant (p < 0.001) potent, dose dependent cytotoxicity with sharp decreases in cell viability from 98.5 percent down to 12.3 percent. This marked increase in cell death was highly correlated with a marked increase in the generation of reactive oxygen species in the cells and the levels of malondialdehyde. In addition, flow cytometry put in front of us a significant increase in the overall population of apoptotic cells, up to 50.9 per cent, compared with the 3.1 per cent in untreated controls.

Conclusions: Biosynthesized Ag-NPs possess significant anticancer activity due to the induction of a high level of oxidative stress inside the cells resulting in programmed cell death. These results make plant mediated silver nanoparticles as a very promising, biocompatible and environmentally friendly candidate for the advanced treatment of oncology.

Keywords

  • Apoptosis, Cancer therapy, Cytotoxicity, Green nanotechnology, Oxidative stress, Plant-mediated synthesis, Silver nanoparticles

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