Green Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles incorporated with Berberine Exhibits Potent Anticancer and Antimigratory activity Against Lung Cancer Cells (A549, H460 cells) and Normal Cells (HEK-293)

Traditional therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are often limited by high economic burden, dose-limiting toxicity and a substantial reduction in patients’ quality of life. To counteract these issues, we synthesized an eco-friendly berberine-incorporated iron-oxide nanoparticle (BR-IONPs) from an aqueous extract of P. amarus. The plant-mediated synthesis of nanoparticles was confirmed using UV–Visible spectroscopy, TEM, which confirmed the structural and morphological properties of nanoparticles. Anticancer activity on HEK-293 cells demonstrated minimal cytotoxicity in IONPs, BR and BR-IONPs whereas cisplatin exhibited high toxicity. Notably, the berberine incorporated iron oxide nanoparticles (BR-IONPs) showed strong and selective cytotoxicity against A549, H460 NSCLC cells, with significantly lower toxicity than that of the individual components including cisplatin. A scratch-wound assay also confirmed that the (BR-IONPs) inhibited A549, H460 cell migration significantly, indicating their antimigratory ability. Collectively, these in vitro results suggest that green-synthesized BR-IONPs offer higher therapeutic value compared to the traditional chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. Subsequent in vivo experiments are required to identify its pharmacokinetics, systemic toxicity and antitumour activity before proceeding towards preclinical development. Further studies on cell signalling and apoptosis are needed to understand how BR-IONPs trigger cancer cell death.