Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanocomposites mediated by biopolymer for anticancer application

Abstract

The development of metal-oxide based composites can be drawn from advanced cancer treatment. For years, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have gained great research attention for their potential applications in diverse areas including the medicine world. Chemicals are harmful to human health and the environment when used in the fabrication of various nanoparticles. This study aims to fabricate facile zinc oxide nanoparticles using carrageenan as a green stabilizer and simple sol-gel and combustion method at four different temperatures ranging from 300 to 700°C for 60 minutes. Data from X-ray and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that the ZnO nanoparticles fabricated at 600°C possessed better crystallinity, purity with least aggregation than other counterparts. This was followed by immersing the fabricated ZnO-nanoparticles (NPs) in the chitosan solution to synthesize facile Cs/ZnO nanocomposites (NCs) and develop cross-linked Chitosan/ZnO nanocomposites (NCs) using sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP). The successful chitosan coating on ZnO nanoparticles and synthesis of cross-linked Cs/ZnO-NCs were shown by ultravioletvisible, X-ray, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Cs/ZnO-NCs were produced for better stability in anticancer activities due to their biocompatibility and stability under harsh environments. Further, the potential anticancer activities of ZnO and Cs/ZnO-NCs were in vitro studied against various cancer cell lines of rhabdomyosarcoma (RD), pancreatic (AsPC-1), breast (MCF7), colon (Caco-2), lung (A-549), colon (HCT116) and embryonic normal kidney cells (293T). In in vitro anticancer assays, both ZnO and Cs/ZnO nanocomposites exhibited significant cytotoxicity on the tested cancer cells. The results indicated that Cs/ZnO-NCs coatings and cross-linked Cs/ZnO-NCs increased anticancer effect with the maximum killing effect of 85% and 100 % against Caco-2 and HCT116 cancer cells respectively. This discovery may provide a ray of hope for the easy and lowcost production of anticancer agents. These results also support the potential use of carrageenanmediated ZnO-NPs coated with chitosan for prospective and low-cost anticancer efficacy. Therefore, the green synthesized CS/ZnO nanoparticles can be considered as a low-cost nanotherapeutic agent for cancer treatments.