Bioformulation of silver nanoparticles as berberine carrier cum anticancer agent against breast cancer

Abstract

Development of a nano-drug cum nano-carrier in a single platform seems to be conquered by almost a missionary fanaticism towards unraveling more and more about the bioavailability and anticancer activity at the molecular level. The present work mainly focuses on the bioformulation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a carrier for berberine (BBR) and tests whether biogenic AgNPs elicit anticancer activity against breast cancer. Biogenic AgNPs and BBR loaded AgNPs are identified and characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic analysis. BBR tethers AgNPs through electrostatic interaction. The current investigation proves that the BBR loaded AgNP complex exhibits a dose-dependent cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Obviously, AO/EtBr and DAPI staining evidenced an induction of apoptosis. Meanwhile, western blot analysis suggested that BBR loaded AgNPs persuaded the activation of p53 and Bax by down regulating Bcl-2 expression. The in vivo study further encourages our in vitro data that showed a significant suppression of tumor growth and insignificant toxicity in vital organs. Hemolysis assay and histopathological studies confirmed the biocompatibility of the BBR loaded AgNPs. Altogether, our findings demonstrated that BBR could be easily loaded to biogenic AgNPs and can serve as a potential anticancer agent for breast cancer.