Functionalized graphene oxide based nanocarrier for enhanced cytotoxicity of Juniperus squamata root essential oil against breast cancer cells

Here, we report the efficient loading of Juniperus squamata root essential oil (JSEO) on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) functionalized graphene oxide (GO-PVP) and investigated cytotoxic potential of GO-PVP-JSEO against human breast cancer cells MDA-MD-231. For this, modified Hummer's method was used to synthesize GO followed by its functionalization with PVP. Loading of JSEO on nanocarriers i.e., GO and GO-PVP was carried out through the π-π/hydrophobic interactions and we found that GO-PVP (17.4%) exhibit higher JSEO loading capacity in comparison to GO (13.6%). Further, GC and GC–MS techniques were used to analyze biologically active phytochemicals, which enabled the identification of sixty-four (64) compounds. To characterize the synthesize nanocomposites, latest spectroscopic techniques viz. Raman, FT-IR, XRD, SEM were used. Moreover, the cell survival percentages of GO-PVP-JSEO treated MDA-MD-231 human breast cancer cells at 20 μg/mL concentration were about 68%, 32.74%, and 21%, after 24 h, 48 h and 72 h, respectively. These results reveal the enhanced anticancer activity of GO-PVP-JSEO nanocarrier in comparison to JSEO alone. Overall, our novel finding shows that JSEO loaded GO-PVP nanocarrier could be a promising platform for breast cancer therapy. Also, future pre-clinical and clinical studies are urgently needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of GO-PVP-JSEO for treating breast cancer.