Synthesis and Characterization of Thymol Carbon Nanodot Functionalized Silver Nanoparticles (ThCND‐AgNPs) and Evaluation of Their Antiproliferative, Anti‐Invasive, and Apoptotic Effects on OVCAR‐3 Ovarian Cancer Cells

ABSTRACT Ovarian cancer belongs to the category of gynecological malignancies and unfortunately holds the distinction of being the most aggressive among them. It is ranked as the fifth highest cause of cancer‐related deaths in women worldwide. The utilization of metal nanoparticles (NPs) linked with natural herbal molecules in biomedical applications has been on the rise. Thymol carbon nanodot functionalized silver nanoparticles (ThCND‐AgNPs) were synthesized in an original manner and subjected to thorough characterization, including analysis of their size, morphology, and elemental composition. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the ThCND‐AgNPs on cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptotic gene expressions in OVCAR‐3 ovarian cancer cells. The effect of ThCND‐AgNPs on cell viability in OVCAR cells was determined in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner using the XTT method. The effect on the expression changes of apoptotic‐related genes was assessed through the Real‐time PCR method, while the anti‐invasive activity was measured using the matrigel invasion chamber assay. The ThCND‐AgNP molecule exhibited a dose‐ and time‐dependent reduction in cell proliferation in OVCAR‐3 cells. The IC50 values were determined to be 388.53 μg/mL at 24 h and 145.683 μg/mL at 48 h. Furthermore, the molecule was found to reduce cell invasion by 51.12% compared with the control group in OVCAR‐3 cells. In terms of apoptotic‐related genes, Bcl‐2 expression was downregulated, while BAX, CASPASE‐3, ‐8, and ‐9 expressions were unregulated. In conclusion, the obtained data reveal the potential antiproliferative, apoptotic, and anti‐invasive effects of our original ThCND‐AgNP molecule in ovarian cancer. While these results need further confirmation through more detailed experiments, they will provide insights for future studies.