Acacia arabica seed extract-mediated synthesis of copper nanoparticles: In vitro COX-2 inhibitory and anticancer activity on prostate cancer PC3 cell line

Safe nanoparticles, such plant-based ones, are needed because many manmade nanoparticles are hazardous. Many phytochemicals in plant extracts reduce, create, and stabilise nanoparticles. This study aimed to synthesize and characterize CuNPs using Acacia arabica seed extract and evaluate their in vitro anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and pharmaco-informatic studies. Acacia arabica aqueous seed extract was used to synthesise copper-based nanoparticles (Aa-CuNPs). The Aa-CuNPs was characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The in vitro COX-2 assay and MTT assay were used to evaluate their anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities. The preliminary phytochemical analysis revealed that the aqueous extract was enriched with phytosteroids, phenolics, and flavonoids, which are excellent bio-reductor and capping agent for Aa-CuNPs. The synthesized Aa-CuNPs showed concentration (6.25–100 µg/mL) dependant COX-2 inhibitory activity and IC 50 value of it was 30.58 µg/mL. The Aa-CuNPs showed excellent cytotoxic activity against PC-3 cell lines. (IC 50 =14.06 μg/mL). The pharmaco-informatic studies on selected phytochemicals from the seeds against COX-2 (PDB: 5IKR) and PC (PDB: 7TAI). The ellagic acid showed highest activity based on their binding energy calculated as −10.1 kcal/mol against COX-2 target protein, followed by leucocyanidin −8.4 kcal/mol, epicatechol −9.0 kcal/mol, and galloylgallic acid −7.0 kcal/mol. The results indicated that Aa-CuNPs from A. arabica seeds have anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties, however, further experimental investigations are needed to validate these potentialities.