Synthesis, Characterization, and Assessment of Anti-Cancer Potential of ZnO Nanoparticles in an In Vitro Model of Breast Cancer.

Alaa A A Aljabali,Abdulfattah Al-Kadash,Raed M Ennab,Hamid A Bakshi,Murtaza M Tambuwala,Hamdi Nsairat,Mohammad A Obeid,Shrouq Alsotari,Walhan Alshaer,Bahaa Al-Trad,Khalid M Al-Batayneh,Wesam Al Khateeb

doi:10.3390/molecules27061827

Abstract

Advanced innovations for combating variants of aggressive breast cancer and overcoming drug resistance are desired. In cancer treatment, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) have the capacity to specifically and compellingly activate apoptosis of cancer cells. There is also a pressing need to develop innovative anti-cancer therapeutics, and recent research suggests that ZnO nanoparticles hold great potential. Here, the in vitro chemical effectiveness of ZnO NPs has been tested. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized using Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad by green methods approach. The generated ZnO was observed to have a hexagonal wurtzite crystal arrangement. The generated nanomaterials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-visible spectroscopy. The crystallinity of ZnO was reported to be in the range 50–60 nm. The NPs morphology showed a strong absorbance at 374 nm with an estimated gap band of 3.20 eV to 3.32 eV. Microscopy analysis proved the morphology and distribution of the generated nanoparticles to be around 50 nm, with the elemental studies showing the elemental composition of ZnO and further confirming the purity of ZnO NPs. The cytotoxic effect of ZnO NPs was evaluated against wild-type and doxorubicin-resistant MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. The results showed the ability of ZnO NPs to inhibit the prefoliation of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 prefoliation through the induction of apoptosis without significant differences in both wild-type and resistance to doxorubicin.

Highlights

During the last two decades, there has been a surge in interest in producing environmentally friendly metal oxide nanoparticles in materials science and nanotechnology research disciplines
The presence of phytochemicals promotes the hypothesized reduction of zinc cations to create zerovalent zinc, which proceeds to the agglomeration of zinc atoms to nanosized particles, which are eventually stabilized by the polyphenols to generate spherical Zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs
ZnO NPs can be a successful alternative for conventional cancer treatment with selective targeting properties and utility as carrier agents

Summary

Introduction

During the last two decades, there has been a surge in interest in producing environmentally friendly metal oxide nanoparticles in materials science and nanotechnology research disciplines. Chemical reduction strategies are often utilized on an industrial scale to synthesize large quantities of metal NPs; they are more costly, environmentally harmful, and require immense energy. Synthesis of NPs using various noble metals can be used in many biomedical applications, including cancer therapies, selective drug delivery, and molecular imaging [1–4]. Nanomedicine-mediated approaches have shown a strong interest in cancer treatment due to targeted delivery, high absorption, biocompatibility, and multifunctionality of the generated nanoparticles [8]. The need to utilize the ZnO-based system to address the invasive triple-negative breast cancer and address the aggressive phenotype characterized by a significantly high level of metastasis, a poor prognosis, and unpredictability in therapy due to conventional chemotherapy suppressing malignant cells is the main rationale for this work

Methods

Results

Conclusion