Enhanced anticancer activities of curcumin-loaded green gum acacia-based silver nanoparticles against melanoma and breast cancer cells

Nano-anticancer drugs are gaining importance in cancer treatment due to their unique properties and wide range of applications. The efforts are made to synthesize silver nanoparticles by a green method and used as nano-carriers for curcumin. Green synthesis of the gum-stabilized AgNPs was monitored by UV–Vis spectrophotometry and the possible interactions of gum with AgNPs were evaluated by FT-IR. The curcumin-loaded AgNPs were characterized for their size, polydispersity index, ζ potential, morphology, size distribution, drug loading efficiency, and excipients’ interactions. The prepared nano-anticancer formulations were characterized and tested for anti-cancer potentials against MM-138, FM-55 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. The AgNPs acted as excellent nano-carriers for an increased amount of curcumin. In in vitro anticancer study, the IC50 values for AgNPs, curcumin, and curcumin-loaded AgNPs were 166.3, 82.2 and 61.6 µg/mL; 153.2, 107.3 and 77.1 µg/mL; and 144.6, 81.2 and 60.6 µg/mL against MM-138, FM-55 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. It was observed that silver nanoparticles showed good loading capacity for curcumin. Also, the curcumin-loaded nanoparticles showed good anticancer activities against MM-138, FM-55 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. The reported nano-anticancer drug formulations may be tested in vivo studies and clinical trials for treating cancer in the future.