Biogenic Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Kleinia grandiflora Leaf Extract Suppress Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (MDA-MB-231) Through Oxidative Stress Modulation and Apoptosis

The current investigation deals with the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) using aqueous leaf extract of Kleinia grandiflora and their physicochemical, antioxidant and anticancer properties. The synthesized ZnO-NPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, DLS, Zeta-potential analysis, SEM and XRD. Antioxidant property was investigated using Total phenol and flavonoid content, DPPH, FRAP assay, superoxide radical scavenger activity, Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) scavenger activity and NO scavenger assay. Anticancer activity was examined against MDA-MB-231 TNBC cell lines by MTT assay. Apoptosis was detected using acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EtBr) staining. Characterization results demonstrate the formation of crystalline ZnO-NPs with characteristic physicochemical properties. The ZnO-NPs displayed concentration-dependent radical scavenging activity among all the different essays. The ZnO-NP treatment led to dose-dependent decrease in viability of MDA-MB-231 TNBC cells and the IC50 value was found to be around 40µg/ µmL. AO/EtBr staining confirmed the presence of morphological changes leading to apoptotic cell death. In conclusion, K. Grandiflora-mediated ZnO-NPs have good potential in the anti- TNBC therapy, in nanobiotechnology for cancer treatment, so further research is needed for the development of potential drug formulation to treat TNBC.