Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Reduced by Bingol Propolis and Evaluation of Antioxidant, Cytotoxic and Anticancer Activities in PC-3 Cells

Abstract Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been reported in several studies. However, no study focused on synthesis, characterization, and investigation of anticancer and antioxidant activities of AgNPs using Bingöl propolis. The morphology and physical properties of PrAgNPs (propolis-AgNPs) were characterized by UV-Vis spectrum of the characteristic silver surface plasmon resonance band, FTIR, XRD, SEM, zeta potential and DLS analysis. XRD and zeta potential analysis revealed a potential of-24.6 mV and formation of cubic crystals, with an average size of 3.45 nm, and a wide band at 420 nm was detected in UV-vis spectroscopy. The in vitro antioxidant capacities of PrAgNPs were evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging, metal chelating, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities. The cytotoxicity and anticancer activities of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) and PrAgNPs were investigated on PC-3 cell lines by WST-1 assay and western blotting. The results demonstrated that PrAgNPs showed higher antioxidant activity than the EEP. The synthesized PrAgNPs were also shown to inhibit PC-3 cell proliferation. In the immunoblotting study, the expression of levels of apoptotic markers pro-caspase-3 and cytochrome c confirmed apoptosis induced by PrAgNPs. The current study reveals that green synthesized PrAgNPs possess antioxidant, anticancer, and apoptotic activities on human prostate cancer cell line PC-3 and pave the way for the possible treatment of the various cancers.