Centre of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Queretaro, Av. Epigmenio González, No. 500, Fracc. San Pablo, Querétaro 76130, Mexico.
División de Investigación y Posgrado, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Cerro de Las Campanas S/N, Querétaro 76010, Mexico.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Aug 16;24(16):12860. doi: 10.3390/ijms241612860.
Zinc ferrite nanoparticles (ZFO NPs) are a promising magneto-crystalline platform for nanomedicine-based cancer theranostics. ZFO NPs synthesized using co-precipitation method are characterized using different techniques. UV-visible spectroscopy exhibits absorption peaks specific for ZFO. Raman spectroscopy identifies Raman active, infrared active, and silent vibrational modes while Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) spectra display IR active modes that confirm the presence of ZFO. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) exhibits the crystalline planes of single-phase ZFO with a face-centered cubic structure that coincides with the selected area electron diffraction pattern (SAED). The average particle size according to high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) is 5.6 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) signals confirm the chemical states of Fe, Zn, and O. A superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) displays the magnetic response of ZFO NPs, showing a magnetic moment of 45.5 emu/gm at 70 kOe. These ZFO NPs were then employed for comparative cytotoxicity evaluation using MTT, crystal violet, and LDH assays on breast adenocarcinoma epithelial cell (MCF-7), triple-negative breast cancer lines (MDA-MB 231), and human embryonic kidney cell lines (HEK-293). Flow cytometric analysis of all the three cell lines were performed in various concentrations of ZFO NPs for automated cell counting and sorting based on live cells, cells entering in early or late apoptotic phase, as well as in the necrotic phase. This analysis confirmed that ZFO NPs are more cytotoxic towards triple-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) as compared to breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7) and normal cell lines (HEK-293), thus corroborating that ZFO can be exploited for cancer therapeutics.
锌铁氧体纳米粒子（ZFO NPs）是一种有前途的基于纳米医学的癌症治疗磁性结晶平台。使用共沉淀法合成的 ZFO NPs 采用不同技术进行特性描述。紫外-可见光谱显示出特定于 ZFO 的吸收峰。拉曼光谱确定了拉曼活性、红外活性和沉默振动模式，而傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）光谱显示出确认存在 ZFO 的红外活性模式。X 射线衍射图谱（XRD）显示出单相 ZFO 的晶面，具有面心立方结构，与选区电子衍射图谱（SAED）一致。根据高分辨率透射电子显微镜（HR-TEM）的平均粒径为 5.6nm。X 射线光电子能谱（XPS）信号证实了 Fe、Zn 和 O 的化学状态。超导量子干涉装置（SQUID）显示了 ZFO NPs 的磁响应，在 70kOe 下显示出 45.5emu/gm 的磁矩。然后，使用 MTT、结晶紫和 LDH 测定法在乳腺腺癌上皮细胞（MCF-7）、三阴性乳腺癌系（MDA-MB-231）和人胚肾细胞系（HEK-293）上对这些 ZFO NPs 进行了比较细胞毒性评估。对所有三种细胞系进行了基于流式细胞术的分析，以在不同浓度的 ZFO NPs 下进行自动细胞计数和分选，基于活细胞、进入早或晚期凋亡阶段的细胞以及坏死阶段的细胞。该分析证实，ZFO NPs 对三阴性乳腺癌细胞（MDA-MB-231）的细胞毒性比对乳腺腺癌细胞（MCF-7）和正常细胞系（HEK-293）更高，这证实了 ZFO 可用于癌症治疗。
