Anti-cancer effects of green synthesized gold nanoparticles using leaf extract of Annona muricata . L against squamous cell carcinoma cell line 15 through apoptotic pathway

Oral cancer remains one of the most dreadful diseases in developing nations. Currently, there has been a rise in the prevalence of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), with a poor prognosis. The use of standard treatment approaches against oral cancer patients brings about several side effects. In recent years, nanomedicine has provided a versatile platform for developing new targeted therapeutic modalities. However, safety remains a concern in the synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs). Therefore, the present study aims to synthesize safer phytoconstituent-mediated gold NPs (AuNPs) utilizing leaf extracts of , where the biochemical components of the plant leaf act as the reducing and capping agents in the synthesis of NPs, and to evaluate its anti-cancer activity against SCC. In this experimental study, AuNPs were synthesized through an effective, simple, and ecologically sound green synthesis method. After characterization of these synthesized AuNPs, assays such as 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazole2-yl)-2, 5-biphenyl tetrazolium bromide, wound healing, and clonogenic assays were carried out to investigate the anti-cancer potential of green synthesized AuNPs in the human tongue SCC cell line (SCC-15), and the possible mechanism of action was evaluated through gene and protein expression analysis of Bax, Bcl-2, and p53 genes. The results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0 software and Student's -test was performed for experimental data. ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant. The assays demonstrated that the synthesized AuNPs are exhibiting anti-cancer activity by apoptosis of SCC-15 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Further, it also revealed a highly significant decrease in anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 gene expression, whereas pro-apoptotic genes p53 and Bax revealed a highly significant increase, which is statistically significant compared to the control ( < 0.05). Our findings demonstrated that the AuNPs synthesized from leaf extract could act as a novel anticancer agent, particularly against SCC, after further scrutiny.