Comparative mechanistic study of green-synthesized silver-zinc oxide (Ag-ZnO) and iron–Zinc oxide (Fe-ZnO) bimetallic nanoparticles in antiglycation, antidiabetic, antioxidant, and anticancer activities
Sumaira Anjum, Mubashra Inam, Amar Yasser Jassim, Iqra Attique, Maryam Zahra, Fayez Althobaiti, Mohamed Mohamed Soliman, Khalid S. Alotaibi, Shatha B. Albattal, Christophe Hano
Abstract
Bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) have gained immense attention for their diverse biological applications. This study aimed to biosynthesize and characterize Ag-ZnONPs and Fe-ZnONPs and compare their potential as therapeutic agents. The BNPs were synthesized using Mentha asiatica plant extract and characterized using various techniques such as UV-visible spectroscopy, TEM, EDX spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, PXRD, DLS, and zeta potential analyses. TEM, EDX, and XRD revealed the structural and morphological properties of crystalline Ag-ZnONPs and Fe-ZnONPs. FTIR analysis investigated the plant phytochemicals responsible for the stabilization and capping of BNPs. Ag-ZnONPs showed higher biocompatibility than Fe-ZnONPs. Fe-ZnONPs exhibited-significantly higher anticancer potential than Ag-ZnONPs as evident by Reactive Oxygen Species/ Nitric Oxide Synthase production, along with cell viability analysis, loss of mitochondrial-membrane potential, enhanced caspase-3 gene-expression, and intensified activity of Caspase-3/7. Collectively, our findings underscore the promising therapeutic-potential of BNPs in cancer treatment and diabetes, setting them as strong candidates for future biomedical applications.