A novel zingerone-loaded zinc MOF coated by niosome nanocomposites to enhance antimicrobial properties and apoptosis in breast cancer cells

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is a prevalent malignancy among women, presenting significant health risks. The development of targeted smart drug delivery has greatly enhanced tumor therapy and antibacterial treatments. In this study, we fabricated a novel Zn-metal organic framework (Zn-MOF) at the nanoscale using an oil bath technique and loaded it with zingerone (ZG) and coated with niosomes (Nio) to form ZG-Zn-MOF@Nio, designed for both anti-microbial and anticancer purposes. We investigated the anti-microbial activity by assessing the minimum inhibitory concentration and zone of inhibition by zingerone, Zn-MOF, and ZG-Zn-MOF@Nio. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that the synthesized ZG-Zn-MOF@Nio exhibited well-defined rod and cilia-like morphology. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed ZG-Zn-MOF@Nio nanoparticles (NPs) with a spherical-like shape and an average diameter of 0.34 µm and a zeta potential of (+22 mV). The encapsulation efficiency of zingerone into Zn-MOF was up to 92.56 %, with a loading capacity of 11.55 % (*P<0.05). Four kinetic models were used to analyze the release mechanism of zingerone at pH 6.5, with the zero-order model showing an excellent fit (R2 = 0.9985, *P<0.05). Additionally, the minimum inhibitory concentration of synthesized zingerone, Zn-MOF, and ZG-Zn-MOF@Nio NPs were tested against Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aures), as well as the gram-negative strains Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). In vitro test revealed that the minimum inhibitory concentration of ZG-Zn-MOF@Nio was 31.25 μg/mL against S. aures and B. subtilis, and 62.5 μg/mL against P. aeruginosa and E.coli were. The MCF-7 cell line was utilized as in-vitro model. The MTT assay demonstrated significant cytotoxicity of ZG-Zn-MOF@Nio against MCF-7 cells, with an IC50 values of 46.2 µg/mL, inducing apoptosis in 94.8 % of the cells.