Biosynthesis of Artemisia abyssinica Leaf Extract-Mediated Bimetallic ZnO-CuO Nanoparticles: Antioxidant, Anticancer, and Molecular Docking Studies

Temesgen Achamo Orshiso; Enyew Amare Zereffa; H C Ananda Murthy; Taye B Demissie; Onkar Pardeshi; Lata S Avhad; Suresh Ghotekar

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c01814

Biosynthesis of Artemisia abyssinica Leaf Extract-Mediated Bimetallic ZnO-CuO Nanoparticles: Antioxidant, Anticancer, and Molecular Docking Studies

ACS Omega. 2023 Oct 24;8(44):41039-41053. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c01814. eCollection 2023 Nov 7.

Authors

Temesgen Achamo Orshiso¹, Enyew Amare Zereffa¹, H C Ananda Murthy^{1

2}, Taye B Demissie³, Onkar Pardeshi⁴, Lata S Avhad⁵, Suresh Ghotekar⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Applied Natural Sciences, Adama Science and Technology University, P.O. Box 1888, Adama 1888, Ethiopia.
² Department of Prosthodontics, Saveetha Dental College & Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Science (SIMAT), Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, Tamil Nadu, India.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Botswana, Gaborone 0022, Botswana.
⁴ Department of Electronics, KKHA Arts, SMGL Commerce and SPHJ Science College, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Chandwad 423 101, Maharashtra, India.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Karmaveer Shantarambapu Kondaji Wavare Arts, Science & Commerce College, Savitribai Phule Pune University, CIDCO, Nashik 422008, Maharashtra, India.
⁶ Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam 603103, Tamil Nadu, India.

Abstract

Currently, plant extract-mediated synthesized metal oxide nanoparticles (MO NPs) have played a substantial role in biological applications. Hence, this study focused on the eco-benign one-pot synthesis of bimetallic ZnO-CuO nanoparticles (ZC NPs) using the leaf extract of Artemisia abyssinica (LEAA) and evaluations of their anticancer, antioxidant, and molecular binding efficacy. The optical absorption peak at 380 nm from UV-visible (UV-vis) analysis revealed the formation of ZC NPs. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed the fabrication of mixed-phase crystals with hexagonal and monoclinic structures of ZC NPs with an average crystallite size of 14 nm. Moreover, the biosynthesis of ZC NPs with a spherical morphology and an average particle size of 13.09 nm was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTA) spectroscopy confirmed the involvement of functional groups from LEAA during the synthesis of ZC NPs. ZC NPs have exhibited the ferric ion reducing power (FRAP) with an absorbance of 1.826 ± 0.00 at 200 μg/mL and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) radical scavenging activity of 95.71 ± 0.02% at 200 μg/mL with an IC50 value of 3.28 μg/mL. Moreover, ZC NPs had shown a promising in vitro anticancer activity of 89.20 ± 0.038 at 500 μg/mL with an IC50 value of 33.12 μg/mL against breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines. Likewise, ZC NPs have shown strong binding affinity (-8.50 kcal/mol) against estrogen receptor α (ERα) in molecular docking simulations. These findings suggested that the biosynthesized ZC NPs could be used as promising antioxidant and anticancer drug candidates, particularly for breast cancer ailments. However, the in vivo cytotoxicity test will be recommended to ensure further use of ZC NPs.