Importance of the field-Metal oxide nanoparticles, including zinc oxide, are versatile platforms for biomedical applications and therapeutic intervention. There is an urgent need to develop new classes of anticancer agents, and recent studies demonstrate that ZnO nanomaterials hold considerable promise.Areas covered in this review-This review analyzes the biomedical applications of metal oxide and ZnO nanomaterials under development at the experimental, preclinical, and clinical levels. A discussion regarding the advantages, approaches, and limitations surrounding the use of metal oxide nanoparticles for cancer applications and drug delivery is presented. The scope of this article is focused on ZnO, and other metal oxide nanomaterial systems, and their proposed mechanisms of cytotoxic action, as well as current approaches to improve their targeting and cytotoxicity against cancer cells.Take home message-Through a better understanding of the mechanisms of action and cellular consequences resulting from nanoparticles interactions with cells, the inherent toxicity and selectivity of ZnO nanoparticles against cancer may be further improved to make them attractive new anti-cancer agents.
ZnO nanoparticles (NP) are extensively
used in numerous nanotechnology
applications; however, they also happen to be one of the most toxic
nanomaterials. This raises significant environmental and health concerns
and calls for the need to develop new synthetic approaches to produce
safer ZnO NP, while preserving their attractive optical, electronic,
and structural properties. In this work, we demonstrate that the cytotoxicity
of ZnO NP can be tailored by modifying their surface-bound chemical
groups, while maintaining the core ZnO structure and related properties.
Two equally sized (9.26 ± 0.11 nm) ZnO NP samples were synthesized
from the same zinc acetate precursor using a forced hydrolysis process,
and their surface chemical structures were modified by using different
reaction solvents. X-ray diffraction and optical studies showed that
the lattice parameters, optical properties, and band gap (3.44 eV)
of the two ZnO NP samples were similar. However, FTIR spectroscopy
showed significant differences in the surface structures and surface-bound
chemical groups. This led to major differences in the zeta potential,
hydrodynamic size, photocatalytic rate constant, and more importantly,
their cytotoxic effects on Hut-78 cancer cells. The ZnO NP sample
with the higher zeta potential and catalytic activity displayed a
1.5-fold stronger cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. These results
suggest that by modifying the synthesis parameters/conditions and
the surface chemical structures of the nanocrystals, their surface
charge density, catalytic activity, and cytotoxicity can be tailored.
This provides a green chemistry approach to produce safer ZnO NP.
The cell composition of early hepatic lesions of experimental murine tularemia has not been characterized with specific markers. The appearance of multiple granulomatous-necrotic lesions in the liver correlates with a marked increase in the levels of serum alanine transferase and lactate dehydrogenase.
This work reports a new method to improve our recent demonstration of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) selectively killing certain human cancer cells, achieved by incorporating Fe ions into the NPs. Thoroughly characterized cationic ZnO NPs (∼6 nm) doped with Fe ions (Zn(1-x )Fe (x) O, x = 0-0.15) were used in this work, applied at a concentration of 24 μg/ml. Cytotoxicity studies using flow cytometry on Jurkat leukemic cancer cells show cell viability drops from about 43% for undoped ZnO NPs to 15% for ZnO NPs doped with 7.5% Fe. However, the trend reverses and cell viability increases with higher Fe concentrations. The non-immortalized human T cells are markedly more resistant to Fe-doped ZnO NPs than cancerous T cells, confirming that Fe-doped samples still maintain selective toxicity to cancer cells. Pure iron oxide samples displayed no appreciable toxicity. Reactive oxygen species generated with NP introduction to cells increased with increasing Fe up to 7.5% and decreased for >7.5% doping.
New fluorescein isothiocyanate/fluorescein/rhodamine B-doped ZnO composite nanostructures including tripods, tubes, and rods with tuned sizes have been designed and synthesized to greatly enhance the dye fluorescence up to ∼90 fold. The great fluorescence enhancement mainly arises from the interaction between Zn2+ ions in the ZnO matrix and the dye carbonyl group. The refraction index difference between ZnO and the dyes used here and the segregation of the dye molecules by the ZnO matrix only slightly contribute to the fluorescence enhancement. The control pure ZnO sample has no emission in the dye fluorescence range (500–650 nm) and excludes the possible contribution of the ZnO emission and the relevant energy transfer between the dye and ZnO to the fluorescence enhancement. These composites with the new fluorescence enhancement mechanism not only facilitate dye applications such as medical diagnostics and biotechnology, but also supply a novel and general approach to improve the fluorescence of organic dyes with carbonyl group by doping them into metal oxides
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