Cerium oxide nanoparticles-loaded on chitosan for the investigation of anticancer properties

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study was designed to investigate the anticancer properties of Cerium oxide nanoparticle (nanoceria)-loaded on chitosan (CeCh-NPs). Nanoceria were prepared using melon shell extract by green synthesis method and then loaded on chitosan biopolymers by ion gelation method. The prepared nanoceria were characterised using DLS, XRD, FT-IR, FESEM and TEM studies. CeCh-NPs were characterised with DLS, Zeta potential and FESEM methods. The cytotoxicity of CeCh-NPs was evaluated by MTT method and the following the Flow cytometry, gene expression analysis and AO/PI staining methods were used to assess the occurrence of apoptosis. The antioxidant effects of CeCh-NP were investigated by qPCR. The FTIR and XRD results confirmed the presence of Ce-NPs and then the results of DLS, TEM and FESEM showed the formation of spherical nanoparticles with a size of 54.83 nm and PDI of 0.31. Data from physicochemical analysis of CeCh-NPs showed the formation of spherical nanoparticles with a diameter of 63.68 nm, PDI of 0.34 and zeta potential of 44.06 Mv. The IC50 of CeCh-NPs for HFF and A549 cells were reported about 50.65 and 131.108 μg/ml, respectively. Increasing the number of cells in the SubG1 phase in flow cytometry, increased expression of caspase 9 genes in treated cells and also AO/PI results confirmed the occurrence of apoptosis in CeCh-NPs-treated cells. On the other hand, induction of cell death was observed by reducing the expression of antioxidant genes (CAT, SOD) in CeCh-NPs-treated cells. The CeCh-NPs induced apoptosis and inhibited cancer cells by various mechanisms, including activation of the internal pathway of apoptosis (cas-9) and reduction of antioxidant genes. Therefore, CeCh-NPs can be suggested as an effective factor in cancer therapy studies.