Luteolin Functionalized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy Based on Autophagy Activation and EMT Inhibition

Langmuir. 2024 Dec 10;40(49):26363-26369. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c04194. Epub 2024 Nov 26.

Abstract

Natural bioactive compounds have become increasingly important antitumor and antimicrobial agents due to their high therapeutic potential and low systemic toxicity. However, they also have significant drawbacks like nontumor targeting and low bioavailability, which limit their wide therapeutic applications. There is an urgent need for a safe and compatible nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery system for the efficient transport of drug candidates into tumor tissues. In this paper, amine-modified zinc oxide nanoparticles are synthesized to load luteolin. The functionalized nanoparticles exhibit good synergistic effects in terms of antitumor and antibacterial activities. They show significant induction of oxidative stress and antitumor effects, while no significant inhibitory effect on normal cells is observed, suggesting that the nanocomposites have good targeting of cancer cells. Autophagy activation and EMT inhibition effects are studied to explain the good antitumor performances. The prepared nanocomposites are demonstrated to be attractive candidates for cancer therapy.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents* / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents* / pharmacology
  • Autophagy* / drug effects
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition* / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Luteolin* / chemistry
  • Luteolin* / pharmacology
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Zinc Oxide* / chemistry
  • Zinc Oxide* / pharmacology

Substances

  • Zinc Oxide
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Luteolin
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents