Azadirachta indica Seed Derived Carbon Nanocapsules: Cell Imaging, Depolarization of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential, and Dose-Dependent Control Death of Breast Cancer

In this work, a series of mesoporous carbon nanocapsules (mCNS) of size below 10 nm have been prepared from Azadirachta indica seeds with a very easy and cost-effective approach. These nanocapsules can emit red and green light and are effective for cell imaging. Further, these carbon nanocapsules are biocompatible toward the normal healthy cells, however, they possess modest cytotoxicity against the MCF-7 (human breast cancer) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) (MDA- MB-231 breast cancer cells), and the rate of killing cancer cells strongly depends on the dose of mCNCs. Further, the mitochondrial membrane potential and apoptosis assay were performed to analyze the therapeutic significance of these nanocapsules to kill breast cancer. Results showed that these carbon nanocapsules can depolarize the mitochondrial membrane potential alone (without using conventional drugs) and can change the physiological parameters and cellular metabolic energy of the cancer cells and kill them. The apoptosis results confirmed the death of breast cancer cells in the form of apoptosis and necrosis. Moreover, the results suggested that the porous carbon nanocapsules (mCNCs) reported herein can be used as a potential candidate and useful for the theranostic applications such as for cancer cell detection and therapy without using any conventional drugs.