International Journal of Nanomedicine (Feb 2024)

Synthesis and Characterization of Graphene Oxide/Polyethylene Glycol/Folic Acid/Brucine Nanocomposites and Their Anticancer Activity on HepG2 Cells

  • Ibrahim IAA,
  • Alzahrani AR,
  • Alanazi IM,
  • Shahzad N,
  • Shahid I,
  • Falemban AH,
  • Nur Azlina MF,
  • Arulselvan P

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 19
pp. 1109 – 1124

Abstract

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Ibrahim Abdel Aziz Ibrahim,1 Abdullah R Alzahrani,1 Ibrahim M Alanazi,1 Naiyer Shahzad,1 Imran Shahid,1 Alaa Hisham Falemban,1 Mohd Fahami Nur Azlina,2 Palanisamy Arulselvan3 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura university, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Department of Chemistry, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 602 105, IndiaCorrespondence: Ibrahim Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, Associated professor in Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Email [email protected]: Liver cancer is the sixth most prevalent form of cancer and the second major cause of cancer-associated mortalities worldwide. Cancer nanotechnology has the ability to fundamentally alter cancer treatment, diagnosis, and detection.Objective: In this study, we explained the development of graphene oxide/polyethylene glycol/folic acid/brucine nanocomposites (GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs) and evaluated their antimicrobial and anticancer effect on the liver cancer HepG2 cells.Methodology: The GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs were prepared using the co-precipitation technique and characterized using various techniques. The cytotoxicity of the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs was tested against both liver cancer HepG2 and non-malignant Vero cells using an MTT assay. The antimicrobial activity of the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs was tested against several pathogens using the well diffusion technique. The effects of GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs on endogenous ROS accumulation, apoptosis, and MMP levels were examined using corresponding fluorescent staining assays, respectively. The apoptotic protein expressions, such as Bax, Bcl-2, and caspases, were studied using the corresponding kits.Results: The findings of various characterization assays revealed the development of GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs with face-centered spherical morphology and an agglomerated appearance with an average size of 197.40 nm. The GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs treatment remarkably inhibited the growth of the tested pathogens. The findings of the MTT assay evidenced that the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs effectively reduced the HepG2 cell growth while not showing toxicity to the Vero cells. The findings of the fluorescent assay proved that the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs increased ROS generation, reduced MMP levels, and promoted apoptosis in the HepG2 cells. The levels of Bax, caspase-9, and − 3 were increased, and Bcl-2 was reduced in the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs-treated HepG2 cells.Conclusion: The results of this work demonstrate that GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs suppress viability and induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells, indicating their potential as an anticancer candidate. Keywords: graphene oxide, brucine, nanomedicine, apoptosis, caspases, photoluminescence

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