Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Induce Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer Cells via Caspase-8 and P53 Pathway

Nanoparticles are a special institution of substances with precise capabilities and significant applications in many biomedical fields. In the present work zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared through sol-gel approach. The synthesised nanoparticles were identified through the usage of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In-vitro anticancer activity of zinc oxide nanoparticles towards MCF-7 cell lines using numerous parameters was investigated. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were determined to exert cell growth arrest against MCF-7 cell lines. The anti-proliferative efficiency of ZnO nanoparticles was due to cell dying and inducing apoptosis that were confirmed by the usage of acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual staining, DAPI staining and genotoxicity assay. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) analysis achieved to identify the gene expression of Caspase-8, Caspase-9, and P53.  The results suggested that ZnO nanoparticles might find a wide use in clinical applications and provide new drug recompense for chemotherapy drugs.