Identification of cytotoxic constituents of selected plants and the synthesis of liposome-stabilized metal oxide nanoparticles for delivery into cancerous cells

Abstract

Nanotechnology has led to synthesis of small molecules that are used in pharmacology and many other fields. Historically, plants were used to treat a variety of ailments and currently nanotechnology and ethnomedicine is being adjoined to created safer and smaller medicinal molecules for treatment of these ailments. Brain cancer is one of the difficult ailments to treat due to the presence of the blood brain barrier which is very selective of molecules it permits. In this research, three plants were selected: Dieffenbachia camilla, Adenium multiflorum, and Pechuel-loeschea leibnitziae. Plant-based molecules were extracted from these plants, and the phytochemicals of these plants was analysed. Furthermore, to mimic the brain and the normal human cells, cancerous brain cells and two normal cells were selected to observe the effect of the plant the plant-based molecule and nanoparticles. The inhibitory activity of these molecules was calculated and graphed. The research found that the plant P. leibnitziae exhibited the highest - inhibitory activity against the cancerous cell line. The fractionation of P. leibnitziae extract showed the presence of Xerantholide compound. This plant extract was further used to synthesize silver nanoparticles which were further stabilized in liposomes. The inhibitory effect of the plant P. leibnitziae (3 µg/mL) extract was shown to have increased when silver nanoparticles were synthesized using this plant, which ranged from 0, 64-0, 71 µg/mL.