Anti-cancer activity of Hypnea valentiae seaweed loaded gold nanoparticles through EMT signaling pathway in A549 cells

The biological synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) offers enormous promise for the formulation of a new generation anti-carcinogenic drugs. In this study, AuNPs were eco-friendly synthesized using the marine red algae species, Hypnea valentiae. Multiple spectroscopic methods were used to confirm and characterized the synthesized Hv-AuNPs. UV spectroscopy revealed 540 nm is where Hv-AuNPs' Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) peak. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) showed that Hv-AuNPs were 7–45 nm size ranges with round shapes. With the help of an X-ray Diffraction (XRD) spectrum, the crystalline nature of Hv-AuNPs was found, and FTIR analytical tools were used to find the organic compounds, like phenols and carbonyl molecules, that were involved in the reduction of Hv-AuNPs. The biosynthesized Hv-AuNPs' potential to scavenge free radicals was measured using the DPPH test (84.5 ± 1.45%), the hydrogen peroxide assay (70.6 ± 0.8%) and the FRAP assay (90.54 ± 2.3%). Lung cancer (A549) cells were used to test the anti-cancer effects of Hv-AuNPs through EMT signaling pathway (E-cadherin, Vimentin and SNAIL). The Hv-AuNPs showed strong cytotoxic activity against lung cancer cells (IC50 = 23.68 μg/mL) and the nanoparticles effectively control the cell migration and colony formation at 50 μg/mL. The RT-PCR gene expression analysis confirmed the Hv-AuNPs potentially downregulated the Vimentin expression at 50 μg/mL and demonstrated high anti-cancer activity. Therefore, this investigation found that H. valentiae synthesized AuNPs have high therapeutic potential for lung cancer and suggests their use in drug development. [Display omitted] •The red seaweed Hypnea valentiae loaded AuNPs synthesized and characterized.•The biosynthesized gold nanoparticles have excellent free radical scavenging ability.•H. valentiae loaded AuNPs potentially inhibited lung cancer cells growth and migration.•The synthesized AuNPs targeted the EMT signaling pathway genes to control lung cancer proliferation.