Utilization of plant-derived Myricetin molecule coupled with ultrasound for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles against breast cancer

Phytochemical mediated synthesis of nanoparticles has gained great interest in the field of cancer therapeutics. We attempted a simple and stable synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with Myricetin (Myr) adopting ultrasound-assisted method. Further, we evaluated anticancer activity of the synthesized nanoparticles. The physico-chemical properties of biosynthesized Myr-AuNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometer, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and particle size analysis. The study reports of Myr-AuNPs showed spherical-shaped particles with a size of < 50 nm. Stability of the particles was increased in various physiological media. Furthermore, the graph theoretical network analysis of Myr-AuNPs indicated that the probable binding with the mTOR is an effective target for breast cancer cells. In silico molecular docking study of Myr-AuNPs in human mTOR kinase was found to be strong binding. The IC₅₀ value of Myr-AuNPs was calculated as 13 μg mL^-1 against MCF-7 cell line. The AO/EB and DAPI stainings confirmed the anticancer activity by Myr-AuNPs-treated cells showed a good proportion of dead cells evidenced with formation of pro-apoptotic bodies. In addition, Myr-AuNPs exhibited depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and production of reactive oxygen species. This study proves that Myr-AuNPs holds great promise to use against breast cancer as a potent anticancer drug. Graphical abstract A schematic representation for the biosynthesis of Myr-AuNPs.

Keywords: Apoptosis; Breast cancer; Cytotoxicity; Gold nanoparticles; MCF-7 cells; Myricetin.