Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of antioxidant, anticancer and toxicity properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized from Syzygium aromaticum

Abstract

Background: Syzygium aromaticum, also known as clove, and its essential oil has already been proved to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties. Clove is used in various foods owing to its potent antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Essential oil extracted from clove has been used in traditional medicine for treating various ailments. Methods: In silico analyses of phytocompounds of Syzygium aromaticum namely eugenol, B-caryophyllene, gallic acid, crategolic acid, kaempferol, quercetin, cinnamaldehyde, and oleanolic acid were docked with three apoptotic proteins involved in breast cancer, namely BCL-2, BAX and APAF-1 using AUTODOCK. In addition, flower bud extract of Syzygium aromaticum was used for the synthesis of AgNPs (silver nanoparticles). The synthesized clove-silver nanoparticles were then characterized using various techniques such as Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, FTIR, FESEM-EDX, DLS and zeta potential to determine the particle size, shape, crystalline structure, and stability of CL-AgNPs and tested for its anticancer potential in MCF-7 cell lines. Results: In silico analysis predicted that phytochemicals of clove have good interactions with the apoptosis related proteins of breast cancer. In vitro assay confirmed the cytotoxic effect of the synthesized CL-AgNPs on breast cancer cells using the MCF-7 cell line with the IC50 value of 58.64 µg/ml. Conclusion: In vitro analysis of the anticancer activity of CL-AgNPs in MCF-7 cell line supports the in silico study by proving active interactions between the phytochemicals of clove and target proteins of the breast cancer and hence Syzygium aromaticum has been proved to possess potential anticancer property. Further research is needed to consider clove-silver nanoparticles as a novel drug for treating breast cancer.