Department of Bioinformatics and Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 30;19(8):e0308982. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308982. eCollection 2024.
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide, and the incidence rate has increased enormously over the last three decades. Rab proteins are members of the Rab GTPase superfamily. The aberrant function of these proteins leads to the development of tumors. Mentha longifolia var. asiatica and Zygophyllum arabicum have been known for their therapeutic potential for ages. The present study aimed to synthesize ZnO nanoparticles encapsulated with the extracts of M. longifolia var. asiatica and Z. arabicum and evaluating their therapeutic potential against breast cancer, targeting the Rab22A gene and its protein. UV-Vis spectrophotometer showed characteristic absorbance peaks at 295 nm and 345 nm for Z. arabicum and M. longifolia var. asiatica ZnONPs, respectively. The FTIR bands of Z. arabicum nanoparticles suggested the presence of aldehydes, alcohols, and polyols whereas bands of M. longifolia var. asiatica ZnONPs suggested the presence of carboxyl groups, hydroxyl groups, alkynes, and amines. SEM revealed the size of Z. arabicum ZnO NPs to be 25 ± 4 nm with a spherical shape as compared to nanoparticles of M. longifolia var. asiatica having a size of 35 ± 6 nm with a hexagonal shape. EDX determined the elemental composition of both particles. The cytotoxicity of both plant extracts and respective NPs was determined against the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, which was found to be significant with an IC50 value of 51.68 μM for Z. arabicum and 88.02 μM for M. longifolia var. asiatica ZnO compared to plant extracts (64.01 μM and 107.9 μM for Z. arabicum and M. longifolia var. asiatica). The gene expression and protein levels of Rab22A were decreased in nanoparticle-treated cells as compared to the control group. The apoptotic role of synthesized nanoparticles against the MCF-7 cell line was also determined by the expression of apoptotic pathway genes and proteins (bax, caspase 3, caspase 8 and caspase 9). All samples showed significant apoptotic activity by activating intrinsic and extrinsic pathway genes. The activity of Z. arabicum was more eminent as compared to M. longifolia var. asiatica which was evident by the greater expression of studied genes and proteins as determined by Real-time qPCR and ELISA. This is the first-ever report describing the comparative analysis of the efficacy of Z. arabicum and M. longifolia var. asiatica ZnONPs against breast cancer.
乳腺癌是全球最常见的癌症，在过去三十年中，其发病率大幅上升。Rab 蛋白是 Rab GTPase 超家族的成员。这些蛋白质的功能异常会导致肿瘤的发展。薄荷和骆驼蓬自古以来就因其治疗潜力而闻名。本研究旨在合成包裹有薄荷和骆驼蓬提取物的 ZnO 纳米粒子，并评估其针对 Rab22A 基因及其蛋白的治疗乳腺癌的潜力。紫外可见分光光度计显示，Z. arabicum 和 M. longifolia var. asiatica 的 ZnO NPs 分别在 295nm 和 345nm 处有特征吸收峰。Z. arabicum 纳米粒子的 FTIR 带表明存在醛、醇和多元醇，而 M. longifolia var. asiatica ZnONPs 的带表明存在羧基、羟基、炔和胺。SEM 显示，Z. arabicum ZnO NPs 的尺寸为 25 ± 4nm，呈球形，而 M. longifolia var. asiatica 的纳米颗粒尺寸为 35 ± 6nm，呈六边形。EDX 确定了两种粒子的元素组成。对 MCF-7 乳腺癌细胞系进行了两种植物提取物及其相应 NPs 的细胞毒性测定，发现 Z. arabicum 的 IC50 值为 51.68μM，M. longifolia var. asiatica 的 IC50 值为 88.02μM，明显低于植物提取物（Z. arabicum 和 M. longifolia var. asiatica 的 IC50 值分别为 64.01μM 和 107.9μM）。与对照组相比，纳米颗粒处理的细胞中 Rab22A 的基因表达和蛋白水平降低。通过测定凋亡途径基因和蛋白（bax、caspase 3、caspase 8 和 caspase 9）的表达，还确定了合成纳米颗粒对 MCF-7 细胞系的凋亡作用。所有样品通过激活内在和外在途径基因均显示出显著的凋亡活性。与 M. longifolia var. asiatica 相比，Z. arabicum 的活性更为显著，这一点可以从通过实时 qPCR 和 ELISA 确定的研究基因和蛋白的更高表达中得到证明。这是首次描述 Z. arabicum 和 M. longifolia var. asiatica ZnONPs 对乳腺癌疗效的比较分析。
