Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Ashwagandha); current understanding and future prospect as a potential drug candidate.

Cancer and Neurodegenerative diseases are one of the most dreadful diseases to cure and chemotherapy has found a prime place in cancerous treatments while as different strategies have been tested in neurodegenerative diseases as well. However, due to adverse shortcomings like the resistance of cancerous cells and inefficiency in neurodegenerative disease, plant sources have always found a prime importance in medicinal use for decades, Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (W. somnifera) is a well-known plant with medicinal use reported for centuries. It is commonly known as winter cherry or ashwagandha and is a prime source of pharmaceutically active compounds withanolides. In recent years research is being carried in understanding the extensive role of W. somnifera in cancer and neurological disorders. W. somnifera has been reported to be beneficial in DNA repair mechanisms; it is known for its cellular repairing properties and helps to prevent the apoptosis of normal cells. This review summarizes the potential properties and medicinal benefits of W. somnifera especially in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Available data suggest that W. somnifera is effective in controlling disease progressions and could be a potential therapeutic target benefiting human health status. The current review also discusses the traditional medicinal applications of W. somnifera, the experimental evidence supporting its therapeutical potential as well as obstacles that necessitate being overcome for W. somnifera to be evaluated as a curative agent in humans.

Fungal-mediated synthesis of pharmaceutically active silver nanoparticles and anticancer property against A549 cells through apoptosis.

Generally, fungi have the ability to secrete large amounts of secondary metabolites which have the ability to reduce metal ions to metallic nanoparticles. In this report, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by using an endophytic fungus isolated from the medicinal plant, Catharanthus roseus (Linn.). The endophytic fungus was identified as Botryosphaeria rhodina based on the ITS sequencing. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by adopting various high-throughput techniques, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and UV-Visible spectrophotometer. In vitro anticancer efficacy of AgNPs was tested on A-549 cells. The synthesized AgNPs were effective in scavenging free radicals and induced hallmarks of apoptosis including nuclear and DNA fragmentation in lung (A549) cancer cell lines under in vitro conditions. The results suggested that the natural biomolecules in the endophytic fungi incorporated into the nanoparticles could be responsible for the synergetic cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. The AgNPs were found to have cytotoxicity IC50 of 40 µg/mL against A549 cells. To the best our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that AgNPs from Botryosphaeria rhodina could be able to induce apoptosis in various types of cancer cells as a novel strategy for cancer treatment.

AgNPs from Nigella sativa Control Breast Cancer: An In Vitro Study.

In our current study, we synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from an aqueous seed extract of Nigella sativa. The seed extract contains phytochemical compounds including phenols, terpenoids, and flavonoids that may act as reducing agents and are able to convert metal ions to metal nanoparticles. The formation of synthesized AgNPs was characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDX). The efficacy of N-AgNPs against human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells was tested. The synthesized AgNPs displayed dose-dependent cytotoxicity (1-200 µg/mL) against MCF-7 cells. Morphological alterations of the cells also appeared as bright field images. Treatment of synthesized AgNPs altered the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 (apoptotic proteins) and COX-2 (inflammatory marker) in MCF-7 cells. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that N-AgNPs from Nigella sativa can induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.

Biogenic AgNPs synthesized via endophytic bacteria and its biological applications.

In this present study, the endophytic bacteria were isolated from the drought-tolerant ornamental plant Pennisetum setaceum. The biomass of endophytic bacteria was utilized for the biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The synthesis of AgNPs was confirmed by UV-Visible and FTIR spectroscopy followed by SEM analysis. The antibacterial studies were performed through MIC, MBC, and biofilm assays. Efficacy of AgNPs against the human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells was also tested, and the IC50 was determined by MTT assay. In our study, we have observed that the synthesized AgNPs exhibited a dose-dependent cytotoxicity (1-100 µg/mL) against MCF-7 cells and morphological alterations of the cells were also visualized and the IC50 was observed at 50 µg/mL. The treatment of synthesized AgNPs altered the expression of apoptotic proteins including Bax, Bcl-2, and inflammatory marker COX-2 in MCF-7 cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that demonstrates the AgNPs from endophytic bacteria isolated from the plant Pennisetum setaceum can induce apoptosis in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Our results suggest that AgNPs used in this study can be utilized to control human pathogens and can also be utilized to induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells.