Functionalization of nanoceria a dual approach to anticancer and antifungal applications

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂ NPs) have unique physicochemical properties that make them suitable for various applications, particularly in biomedicine. To enhance their compatibility with biological systems, we functionalized these nanoparticles with selected amino acids, which significantly improved their potential for biomedical use, as our findings show. Cerium oxide has a fluorite-type structure and can exist in both trivalent and tetravalent states. Notably, cerium oxide also serves as an effective radioprotectant, offering selective protection to normal cells over tumor cells. The present embodiment provides functionalized cerium oxide nanoflakes with a plurality of amino acids. The surface modification by amino acids has been studied and characterized with various techniques. The cytotoxicity and the biological activity of nanoceria and the functionalization of nanoceria were evaluated. The result of this investigation shows the change in morphology structure and optical properties. The anticancer activity of the samples shows significant results against the MCF-7 and SCC-29B cell lines overall. In the case of comparing pure and functionalized nanoceria in the microbial study, the functionalization of nanoceria shows better significance by improving biological activity in some cases than synthesized/pure nanoceria and becomes suitable for biomedical applications. Therefore, the results show that the functionalization of nanoceria plays an important role in manufacturing and the possibility of using it as a therapeutic compound in the future to improve the public health of society.