Biosynthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles Mediated Vitis vinifera L.: Evaluation of Their Anti-proliferative Activity Against Breast and Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines

The unique properties of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have made them valuable agents in cancer therapy. In this research, Vitis vinifera Grape pomace aqueous extract was used to green synthesis the ZnO NPs. Then the nanoparticles’ anti-cancer effects were investigated on breast and colorectal cancer cells. The ZnO NPs were synthesized using Grape pomace aqueous extract in the two different pHs (9 and 11). The results of UV–Visible spectrometry, FT-IR, XRD, and EDS analyses confirmed the formation of ZnO NPs. The DLS and SEM analyses showed that the size of ZnO NPs synthesized at pH11 (ZNO-1: 183.8 nm) is bigger than it in ZnO NPs prepared at pH9 (ZnO-2: 98.5 nm). The DPPH test revealed that the ZnO NPs have weak antioxidant activity. MTT assay data showed that the ZnO NPs exerted more cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 and HT-29 cells in compared to HEK-293 cells. Real-time analysis exhibited that the Green synthesized ZnO NPs, particularly, ZNO-1 induced apoptosis in the two cancer cell lines by Bax/Bcl-2 ratio level elevation. Based on the results, The ZnO NPs were synthesized for the first time using V. vinifera grape pomace aqueous extract at pHs 9 and 11. The ZnO-1 NPs showed more cytotoxic and apoptosis inducing effects compared to ZnO-2 NPs on the breast and colorectal cancer cells; therefore the ZnO-1 NPs can be suggested as a potential agent for treatment of breast and colorectal cancer cell lines. Graphical Abstract