The current study evaluated the anti-cancer properties of bio-functionalized silver nanoparticles fabricated by Juniperus chinensis leaf extracts. The nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering, Zeta potential and X-ray spectroscopy. Further, this study elucidated the cellular and molecular mechanisms of nanoparticles for anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on human lung cancer cells (A549) and compared them with commercial drug cisplatin. The size of the spherical nanoparticle was 12.96 nm with negative zeta potential. Up-regulation of caspase 3,9 and p53, Annexin V-FITC/PI, DAPI staining, and ROS production indicated the remarkable apoptotic effect of AgNPs compared to cisplatin. Moreover, down-regulation of MMP2/MMP9 scratch and matrigel assays revealed anti-metastatic properties of AgNPs. Cell cycle analysis and downregulation of cyclin D1 indicated cancer cell cessation in the G0/G1 phase. Overall, the results revealed that the green-synthetized AgNPs had anti-metastasis and anti-proliferation effects on lung cancer cells in comparison to cisplatin with lower side effects on the normal cell line.

The current study reveals anti-cancer properties of bio-functionalized silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) fabricated by Juniperus chinensis leaf extracts due to it’s easy, low cost, biological activity, eco-friendly and lower side effects. The characteristics of AgNPs were determined by scanning electron microscopy [1], transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Zeta potential and X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Further, this study highlights the cellular and molecular mechanisms of AgNPs involves in anti-proliferative and apoptotic effect on human lung cancer cells (A549) and compared to commercial drug cisplatin by various biological methods such as MTT, flow cytometery analysis, gene expression patterns, migration and invasion inhibition, ROS and caspase production and cell staining. The size of AgNPs fabricated in this study was 12.96 with spherical shape and negative zeta potential. Up-regulation of capase 3,9 and p53, Annexin V-FITC/PI, DAPI staining, ROS production indicated remarkable apoptotic effect of AgNPs than cisplatin. Also down-regulation of MMP2/MMP9 scratch and matrigel assays revealed anti-metastatic properties of AgNPs.cell cycle analysis and down regulation of cyclin D1 showed cancer cell cessation in the G0/G1 phase. Overall results in current experiment revealed AgNPs synthetized by biogreen method anti-metastasis and anti-proliferation effect on lung cancer cells comparison to cicplatin drug and also had lower side effect on normal cell line.