Abstract:
Background
Metallic nanocarriers belong to a class of nanocarriers having strong anticancerous activity through the generation of ROS and by the induction of oxidative stress in the targeted cells. They are widely used in diagnostics, therapeutic and pharmaceutical industries. Studies showed that ZnONPs have potential anticancerous, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenesis activities.
Methods
ZnO-NPs were chemically synthesized by wet chemical precipitation method using zinc nitrate tetra hydrate and NaOH as precursor. Tamoxifen (Tam), a widely used chemotherapeutic drug for breast cancer, is conjugated with zincoxide nanoparticles and further coated with the polymer poly ethyl glycol (PEG), to enhance their therapeutic efficacy, better solubility, biocompatibility and increases its retention time. The final product (PEG-Tam-ZnONPs) is delivered to MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The antioxidant, hemolytic activity and invitro stability was tested through DPPH, hemolytic assay and salt, temperature and pH testing. The morphology and characteristics of the ZnONPs, Tam-ZnONP’s and PEG-Tam-ZnO were investigated by UV, XRD, SEM, EDX and FTIR.
Results
The characterization techniques confirm the synthesis of ZnONPs and drug conjugation. Cytotoxicity evaluation of PEG-Tam-ZnONPs Tam-ZnONPs and ZnONPs showed that PEG-Tam-ZnONPs have improved and better anticancerous activity than its counterparts. The hemolytic assay confirmed that the PEG-Tam-ZnONPs has less hemolytic and clotting activity than tamoxifen when used alone. PEG-Tam-ZnONPs exposed cells generate more reactive oxygen species and free hydroxyl radical when compared to ZnONPs, Tam- ZnONPs. The current study suggests that nanoparticle coated drug formulation can contribute to the development of a suitable anticancer drug delivery system in the nearby future.
