Luteolin Functionalized\nZinc Oxide Nanoparticles for\nCancer Therapy Based on Autophagy Activation and EMT Inhibition

Natural bioactive compounds have become increasingly\nimportant\nantitumor and antimicrobial agents due to their high therapeutic potential\nand low systemic toxicity. However, they also have significant drawbacks\nlike nontumor targeting and low bioavailability, which limit their\nwide therapeutic applications. There is an urgent need for a safe\nand compatible nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery system for the\nefficient transport of drug candidates into tumor tissues. In this\npaper, amine-modified zinc oxide nanoparticles are synthesized to\nload luteolin. The functionalized nanoparticles exhibit good synergistic\neffects in terms of antitumor and antibacterial activities. They show\nsignificant induction of oxidative stress and antitumor effects, while\nno significant inhibitory effect on normal cells is observed, suggesting\nthat the nanocomposites have good targeting of cancer cells. Autophagy\nactivation and EMT inhibition effects are studied to explain the good\nantitumor performances. The prepared nanocomposites are demonstrated\nto be attractive candidates for cancer therapy.