| Summary: | An aqueous extract of <i>Syzygium cumini</i> seeds was utilized to green synthesize titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs). UV-Visible, DLS, FTIR, XRD, FESEM, TEM, SAED, EDAX, and photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques were employed to characterize the prepared TiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles. The rutile crystal structure of TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs was revealed by XRD study. The TEM and FESEM images of the TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs revealed an average particle size of 50–100 nm. We employed EDAX to investigate the elemental compositions of TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs. The O-Ti-O stretching bands appeared in the FTIR spectrum of TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs at wavenumbers of 495 cm<sup>−1</sup>. The absorption edge peaks of TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs were found in the UV-vis spectra at 397 nm. The MTT study revealed that TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs effectively inhibited the growth of liver cancer Hep3 and Hep-G2 cells. The results of the corresponding fluorescent staining assays showed that TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs significantly increased ROS generation, decreased MMP, and induced apoptosis in both liver cancer Hep3 and Hep-G2 cells. TiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles lessened SOD, CAT, and GSH levels while augmenting MDA contents in Hep3 and Hep-G2 cells. In both Hep3 and Hep-G2 cells treated with TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs, the Bax, CytC, p53, caspase-3, -8, and -9 expressions were remarkably augmented, while Bcl-2 expression was reduced. Overall, these findings revealed that formulated TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs treatment considerably inhibited growth and triggered apoptosis in Hep3 and HepG2 cells.
|
|---|