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. 2022 May 25;12(1):8831.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12878-y.

Therapeutic potential of biogenic and optimized silver nanoparticles using Rubia cordifolia L. leaf extract

Sandip Kumar Chandraker  1 , Mishri Lal  1 , Farheen Khanam  1 , Preeti Dhruve  2 , Rana P Singh  2 , Ravindra Shukla  3
Affiliations

Therapeutic potential of biogenic and optimized silver nanoparticles using Rubia cordifolia L. leaf extract

Sandip Kumar Chandraker et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Rubia cordifolia L. is a widely used traditional medicine in the Indian sub-continent and Eastern Asia. In the present study, the aqueous leaf extract of the R. Cordifolia was used to fabricate silver nanoparticles (RC@AgNPs), following a green synthesis approach. Effect of temperature (60 °C), pH (8), as well the concentration of leaf extract (2 ml) and silver nitrate (2 mM) were optimized for the synthesis of stable RC@AgNPs. The phytofabrication of nanosilver was validated by UV-visible spectral analysis, which displayed a distinctive surface plasmon resonance peak at 432 nm. The effective functional molecules as capping and stabilizing agents, and responsible for the conversion of Ag+ to nanosilver (Ag0) were identified using the FTIR spectra. The spherical RC@AgNPs with an average size of ~ 20.98 nm, crystalline nature, and 61% elemental composition were revealed by TEM, SEM, XRD, and. EDX. Biogenic RC@AgNPs displayed a remarkable anticancer activity against B16F10 (melanoma) and A431 (carcinoma) cell lines with respective IC50 of 36.63 and 54.09 µg/mL, respectively. Besides, RC@AgNPs showed strong antifungal activity against aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus, DNA-binding properties, and DPPH and ABTS free radical inhibition. The presented research provides a potential therapeutic agent to be utilized in various biomedical applications.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Plant of R. cordifolia L.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A possible mechanism showing the role of two anthraquinones in the reduction of Ag+ to nanosilver (Ag0).
Figure 3
Figure 3
UV–visible analysis of RC@AgNPs, RCLE, and silver nitrate.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) UV–vis spectra of RC@AgNPs: at different temperatures of 25, 40, 60, and 80 ºC; (b) at different pH of 2, 4, 6, and 8; (c) at different amount of RCLE i.e. 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2 ml; (d) at different AgNO3 concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mM. (Except Fig. 4c, the remaining experiments had the same concentration of RCLE; Similarly, except Fig. 4d, the concentration of AgNO3 was the same in the rest of the experiments).
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) XRD spectra, and (b) SEM images of biogenic synthesized RC@AgNPs.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a) EDX spectrum of RC@AgNPs synthesized from RCLE, and (b) Quantitative estimation of EDX data of RC@AgNPs.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(a) TEM images of RC@AgNPs, and (b) Particle size distribution histogram of RC@AgNPs from the TEM images.
Figure 8
Figure 8
FTIR spectra of biogenic synthesized, (a) RC@AgNPs, and (b) RCLE.
Figure 9
Figure 9
(a) Zeta particle size, and (b) Zeta potential of RC@AgNPs.
Figure 10
Figure 10
(a) A431 (cell carcinoma squamous line) and (b) B16F10 (cell melanoma line) viability percentages after incubation at different times (24 and 48 h) with varying concentrations of biogenic RC@AgNPs from RCLE.
Figure 11
Figure 11
UV–Visible absorption spectra of interaction between CT-DNA (250 μM) and varying concentrations of RC@AgNPs.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Antifungal activity of RC@AgNPs against: A. flavus. The rows represent (a) 0 (control), (b) RCLE, (c) AgNO3, and different concentrations of RC@AgNPs: (d) 0.0625, (e) 0.125, (f) 0.25, (g) 0.5, and (h) 1 mg/mL in PDA.
Figure 13
Figure 13
IRG (%) of RC@AgNPs against A. flavus, (*) indicates significant differences (P < 0.05) in comparison to their control.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Antioxidant activity of RC@AgNPs, (a) DPPH assay, (b) ABTS assay.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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