Cover
Vol. 4 No. 1 (2026)

Published: June 1, 2026

Pages: 210-222

Research Article

Green Synthesis and Characterization of Gold Nanoparticles from Beta vulgaris L. and Their Cytotoxicity Against MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 Cancer Cells

Abulfadhel Yahya Al-khafaji 1 Jenan Hussein Taha 2 Ibramim Abdullah Mahmood 2
1 Al-Nahrain University College of Medicine
2 Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, College of Medicine, Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq
History
  • Received: March 23, 2026
  • Revised: April 28, 2026
  • Accepted: May 9, 2026
  • Available Online: June 1, 2026

Abstract

With the increasing applications of gold nanoparticles in cancer treatment and medical delivery, it has become necessary to study the biological effects of gold nanoparticles. The study aimed to evaluate the biological effects of gold nanoparticles against the mcf-7 & mda-mb-231 cell line. Gold nanoparticles were characterized using several analytical techniques including X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-VIS), Energy Dispersion X-ray (EDX), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Filed Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM).. The characterization results confirmed the successful synthesis of high purity quasi-spherical gold nanoparticles with particle sizes ranging from 38 to 59 nm. The cytotoxic effect of the synthesized AuNPs was investigated using the MTT assay on both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines at six different concentrations. The results indicated a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect of gold nanoparticles on both cancer cell lines, with a high cytotoxic activity observed against the MDA-MB-231 cell line. The results of this study indicate the potential use of gold nanoparticles against various types of cancer cell lines, as well as the potential use of gold nanoparticles in treating cancerous diseases with vivo cell.

Keywords

References

  1. Y. Khan et al., "Classification, Synthetic, and Characterization Approaches to Nanoparticles, and Their Applications in Various Fields of Nanotechnology: A Review," Catalysts, vol. 12, no. 11, Nov. 2022, Art. no. 1386, doi: 10.3390/catal12111386.
  2. A. F. Burlec et al., "Current Overview of Metal Nanoparticles' Synthesis, Characterization, and Biomedical Applications, with a Focus on Silver and Gold Nanoparticles," Pharmaceuticals, vol. 16, no. 10, Oct. 2023, Art. no. 1410, doi: 10.3390/ph16101410.
  3. J. H. Taha, N. K. Abbas, and A. A. F. Al-Attraqchi, "Green synthesis and evaluation of copper oxide nanoparticles using fig leaves and their antifungal and antibacterial activities," International Journal of Drug Delivery Technology, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 378-382, 2020.
  4. A. I. Osman et al., "Synthesis of green nanoparticles for energy, biomedical, environmental, agricultural, and food applications: A review," Environ. Chem. Lett., vol. 22, pp. 841–887, Jan. 2024. doi: 10.1007/s10311-023-01682-3.
  5. J. H. Taha, "Synthesis, characterization of Ca(OH)_2:TiO_2 nanocomposite and evaluation of its antimicrobial efficacy," Biomedicine, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 1496-1501, Sep.-Oct. 2023.
  6. I. Sadowska-Bartosz and G. Bartosz, “Biological Properties and Applications of Betalains,” Molecules, vol. 26, no. 9, p. 2520, Apr. 2021. doi: 10.3390/molecules26092520.
  7. T. Nakashima et al., “Spatial and Temporal Variations in Pigment and Species Compositions of Snow Algae on Mt. Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture, Japan,” Front. Plant Sci., vol. 12, p. 689119, Jul. 2021. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.689119.
  8. B. Khameneh, M. Iranshahy, V. Soheili, and B. S. F. Bazzaz, “Review on plant antimicrobials: a mechanistic viewpoint,” Antimicrob. Resist. Infect. Control, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 118, 2019. doi: 10.1186/s13756-019-0559-6.
  9. N. P. E. Hikmawanti et al., “The Effect of Ethanol Concentrations as The Extraction Solvent on Antioxidant Activity of Katuk (Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr.) Leaves Extracts,” in IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci., vol. 755, no. 1, p. 012060, 2021. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/755/1/012060.
  10. S. Li, “Morphologies, microstructures and magnetic properties of nanocomposite by hydrothermal methods,” M.E. Thesis, School of Materials Science & Eng., Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2018. doi: 10.26190/unsworks/3613.
  11. N. Zohora, “Shape controlled biosynthesis of gold nanoprisms using Cinnamomum tamala leaf extract for mercuric ion sensing,” M.S. Thesis, School of Applied Sciences, RMIT Univ., March 2014.
  12. Bai, X., Wang, Y., Song, Z., Feng, Y., Chen, Y., Zhang, D., & Feng, L., “The Basic Properties of Gold Nanoparticles and their Applications in Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment,” International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 21, no. 7, art. 2480, 2020, doi: 10.3390/ijms21072480.
  13. M. Z. Quazi, T. Kim, J. Yang, and N. Park, "Tuning Plasmonic Properties of Gold Nanoparticles by Employing Nanoscale DNA Hydrogel Scaffolds," Biosensors, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 20, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.3390/bios13010020.
  14. N. S. Aminabad, M. Farshbaf, and A. Akbarzadeh, "Recent Advances of Gold Nanoparticles in Biomedical Applications: State of the Art," Cell Biochem. Biophys., vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 1-19, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1007/s12013-018-0863-4.
  15. A. K. Khan, R. Rashid, G. Murtaza, and A. Zahra, "Gold Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Applications in Drug Delivery," Tropical J. Pharm. Res., vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 1169-1177, Jul. 2014, doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i7.23.
  16. M. Das, K. H. Shim, S. S. A. An, and D. K. Yi, "Review on gold nanoparticles and their applications," Toxicol. Environ. Health Sci., vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 189-201, Dec. 2012, doi: 10.1007/s13530-011-0109-y.
  17. H. T. Idriss and J. H. Naismith, "TNF alpha and the TNF Receptor Superfamily: Structure-Function Relationship(s)," Microsc. Res. Tech., vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 184-195, Aug. 2000, doi: 10.1002/1097-0029(20000801)50:3<184::AID-JEMT3>3.0.CO;2-9.
  18. R. Tamilselvi, S. Nandhini, E. Muniyandi, P. Saravanakumar, A. Venkatesh, and V. Prakash, "Cytotoxicity of Metals and Metal Oxides Nanoparticles in Dentistry: A Comprehensive Review," Biomed. & Pharmacol. J., vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 471–481, Mar. 2025. doi: 10.13005/bpj/3101.
  19. M. J. Piao et al., "Silver nanoparticle-induced cell damage via impaired mtROS-JNK/MnSOD signaling pathway," Toxicol. Mech. Methods, vol. 34, no. 7, pp. 803–812, 2024. doi:10.1080/15376516.2024.2350595.
  20. N. P. Nirmal, R. Mereddy, and S. Maqsood, “Recent developments in emerging technologies for beetroot pigment extraction and its food applications,” Food Chem., vol. 356, p. 129611, 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129611.
  21. A. S. Abed, Y. H. Khalaf, and A. M. Mohammed, "Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles as an effective opportunity for cancer treatment," Results in Chemistry, vol. 5, p. 100848, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.rechem.2023.100848.
  22. Y. Song et al., "Experimental and theoretical study on the synthesis of gold nanoparticles using ceftriaxone as a stabilizing reagent for and its catalysis for dopamine," Gold Bull., vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 153-160, 2012, doi: 10.1007/s13404-012-0060-5.
  23. G. Albahri et al., "Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using Mandragora autumnalis: characterization and evaluation of its antioxidant and anticancer bioactivities," Pharmaceuticals, vol. 18, no. 9, p. 1294, 2025, doi: 10.3390/ph18091294.
  24. S. A. Lee and S. Link, "Chemical interface damping of surface plasmon resonances," Acc. Chem. Res., vol. 54, no. 8, pp. 1950-1960, 2021, doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00872.
  25. P. Khajegi and H. M. Rashidi, "Optical properties of gold nanoparticles: shape and size effects," pp. 41-48, 2021, doi: ijop.15.1.41/10.52547.
  26. L. S. Reinhardt, X. Zhang, K. Groen, B. C. Morten, G. N. De Iuliis, A. W. Braithwaite, J.-C. Bourdon, and K. A. Avery-Kiejda, "Alterations in the p53 isoform ratio govern breast cancer cell fate in response to DNA damage," Cell Death Dis., vol. 13, no. 10, p. 907, Oct. 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41419-022-05349-9.
  27. E. A. Thompson, E. Graham, C. M. MacNeill, M. Young, G. Donati, E. M. Wailes, B. T. Jones, and N. H. Levi-Polyachenko, "Differential response of MCF7, MDA-MB-231, and MCF 10A cells to hyperthermia, silver nanoparticles and silver nanoparticle-induced photothermal therapy," Int. J. Hyperthermia, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 312–323, Aug. 2014, doi: 10.3109/02656736.2014.936051.
  28. K. Kim, H.-r. Cho, and Y. Son, "Astaxanthin induces apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through a p53-dependent pathway," Int. J. Mol. Sci., vol. 25, no. 13, p. 7111, Jun. 2024, doi: 10.3390/ijms25137111.