Study on the anticancer activity of Poria cocos extract mediated gold nanoparticles in the treatment of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Abstract Poria cocos, a fungus used extensively in the Chinese herbal medicine, has been known for myriad of pharmacological applications. There is a growing body of evidence on developing medications for antitumor therapies. The study is aimed to investigate the antitumor potential of gold nanoparticles synthesized from P. cocos extract against pancreatic cancer cells. Firstly, gold nanoparticles were generated from P. cocos extract and characterized through several techniques. The analysis unveiled the average size of nanomaterial as 24 nm. Remarkably, gold nanoparticles synthesized from P. cocos extract showed significant cytotoxic activities. Accumulation of ROS in pancreatic cancer cells is evidenced through the cell permeable probe. Furthermore, to substantiate the ROS-mediated apoptotic event, quantitative real-time PCR was carried out. The results revealed the upregulation of of caspase-3, caspase-9 and Bax in gold nanoparticle treated PANC-1 cancer cells. These findings unravelled the ROS-mediated caspase-dependent apoptotic event in pancreatic cancer cells by gold nanoparticles synthesized from P. cocos extract. However, further research in preclinical work would shed light on therapeutic potential of this green-synthesized nanoparticles.