Formulation, Characterization, Antioxidant, Cytotoxicity, and Antiprostate Cancer Efficacies of Plant-Based Nanoparticles

Here, we show how Boswellia thurifera extract may be used to bio-inspiredly synthesize zinc nanoparticles. B. thurifera was employed as an environmentally friendly medium that served as both an in situ stabilizer and a green reductant for the produced zinc nanoparticles. The intrinsic structural characteristics of the as-synthesized Zn NPs were studied by FE-SEM, EDX, XRD, and UV–Vis. Prostate cancer cell lines were used to evaluate the biogenic Zn NPs' antiprostate cancer capabilities. The MTT experiment showed that the Zn NPs could strongly inhibit the proliferation of LNCaP clone FGC-Luc2 cancer cells. In contrast to their corresponding control, Zn NPs prevent colony development. More importantly, the cells molecular pathway analysis treated with zinc nanoparticles showed that the extract increases the expression of p53 while suppressing the expression of STAT3 in cells. This suggests that STAT3 and p53 are the primary players responsible for the biological events that the extract triggers in human prostate cancer cells. Our data suggest that zinc nanoparticles might be a very promising anticancer drug against human prostate cancer cells.