Anti-Proliferative Activity of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Functionalized Glucose and Conjugated Cinnamon Against Gastric Cell Line.

Gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the third most common cause of cancer death globally. This study aims to synthesize iron oxide nanoparticles functionalized with glucose and conjugated with cinnamon (Fe₃O₄@Glu-Cinnamon NPs) and investigate their cytotoxic effects on gastric cancer (AGS) and normal (HFF-19) cell lines. In the meantime, magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) have gained attention in biomedical applications. So, after synthesis of this magnetic NP, physicochemical characteristics of the NP were evaluated by FT-IR, XRD, EDS-mapping, SEM and TEM imaging, DLS and zeta potential analyses. Cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction were evaluated by MTT and flow cytometry assays. The activity of caspase3, the expression level of the BAX and Bcl-2 genes, and Hoechst staining were performed to characterize the anticancer mechanism of Fe₃O₄@Glu-cinnamon NPs. The synthesized NPs were spherical, within a size range of 20–60 nm, and without impurities. The DLS size and zeta potential of the particles were 190 nm and -14.1 mV, respectively. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of Fe₃O₄@Glu-cinnamon NPs for gastric cancer and normal cell lines were 124 and 217 µg/mL, respectively. Treatment of gastric cancer cells with Fe₃O₄@Glu-cinnamon NPs caused a significant increase in cell apoptosis and necrosis, increased activity of caspase3 by 3.22 folds, and increased the BAX/Bcl-2 ratio by 2.5 folds. Furthermore, nuclear morphological alterations such as chromatin condensation and fragmentation were noticed in treated cells. This work represents the anticancer potential of Fe₃O₄@Glu-cinnamon NPs, as a novel metal-herbal composite, against gastric cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]