Abstract

Plant proteins have become attractive for biomedical applications such as wound dressing and drug delivery. In this research, nanofibers from pristine zein (plant protein) and zein loaded with tungsten oxide (WO3) were prepared (WO3@zein) using less toxic solvents (ethanol and acetic acid). Morphological and biological properties of the zein nanofiber were determined. Prepared nanofibers were defined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (X-RD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy. The average fiber diameter was unchanged with an increase in WO3 concentration from 0.001 to 0.008%. FT-IR spectroscopy and X-RD indicated the presence of WO3 in WO3@zein nanofibers. In comparison to WO3-free, WO3@zein nanofibers showed higher safety and preserved the anticancer effect of WO3 against human melanoma cell line (A375) melanoma cells compared to WO3-free. Moreover, both WO3-free and WO3@zein caused a fourfold increase in the cellular proliferation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the treated A375 cells compared to untreated cells. ROS elevation led to apoptosis-dependent cell death of A375 cells as evidenced by up-regulating the expression of p53-downstream genes (p21 and Bax) (tumor-suppressor gene) while down-regulating the expression of key oncogenes (BCL2 and cyclin D). In conclusion, the prepared nanofiber represents a promising and safe candidate for anticancer applications.

Details

Title
Nanofibers based on zein protein loaded with tungsten oxide for cancer therapy: fabrication, characterization and in vitro evaluation
Author
El Fawal, Gomaa 1 ; Omar, Ashraf M. 2 ; Abu-Serie, Marwa M. 2 

 City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), Polymer Materials Research Department, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute (ATNMRI), New Borg El-Arab City, Egypt (GRID:grid.420020.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 0483 2576) 
 City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), Medical Biotechnology Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, New Borg EL-Arab City, Egypt (GRID:grid.420020.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 0483 2576) 
Pages
22216
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2901801188
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.