Apoptosis-Mediated Anticancer Activity of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Derived and Characterized from Halophila beccarii

Recent advancements in nanomedicine have drawn attention to the use of zinc oxide nanoparticles as apoptotic agents to address triple-negative breast cancer. Halophila beccarii-mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles (Hb-ZnONPs) were fabricated using zinc acetate dihydrate as the precursor.

The fabricated nanoparticles were characterized based on morphological, structural, and elemental composition using SEM and XRD. The antiproliferative potential of Hb-ZnONPs was studied using the BT-549 cell line as an in vitro model, employing the MTT assay and Annexin V-FITC/PI-based flow cytometry analysis.

The Hb-ZnONPs exhibited characteristic absorption maxima at 367 nm with a particle size of 35 nm and -44.7 mV stability. XRD confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure with an elemental composition of 62.3% Zn and 25.79% Oxygen. The Hb-ZnONPs demonstrated significant cytotoxicity against BT-549 cells, with 35.26% apoptosis at 5 μg/ml and 38.25% apoptosis at 10 μg/ml. However, cells in the late apoptosis stage increased from 14.48% at 5 μg/ml to 28.16% at 10 μg/ml, indicating a nearly twofold increase with the higher concentration.

Hb-ZnONPs may act as promising apoptotic inducers in the chemotherapy of breast cancer.