Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Biosynthesized Gold and Silver Nanoparticles on Human Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

Nanoparticles research is currently an area of passionate scientific interest due to its wide variety of potential applications in therapeutic and biomedical interest. This paper presents cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of gold and silver nanoparticles synthesized by using Cassia auriculata leaf extract at room temperature on different cancer cell lines. The characterization was performed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Measurement (TEM). Cytotoxicity was analyzed against human carcinoma cells lines by MTT assay, while genotoxicity was monitored by agarose gel electrophoresis method. The UV-Vis spectroscopy reveals surface plasmon absorption maxima at 541 nm for gold and 425 nm for silver. The peaks in XRD pattern were in good agreement with the standard values of the face centered cubic form, with an average size of 21 nm in gold and 20 nm in silver. TEM reveals that the particles were spherical and polydisperse. This biological procedure for synthesis of AuNPs and AgNPs and selective inhibition of cancerous cells opens an alternative avenue to treat human cancer effectively. Least concentration of AgNPs was more toxic and AuNPs reveals dose dependent response. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.