Hybrid Nanoarchitectonics of Chitosan-Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for Anticancer Potentials

The aim of this study was to synthesize green cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂–NPs) and coat them with chitosan polymers to increase bioavailability and their effectiveness in anti-cancer studies. For the synthesis of CeO₂–NPs, aqueous rosemary leaf extract (RLE) was used as a reducing and stabilizing agent, and after characterizing the nanoparticles (DLS and XRD), a coating of chitosan around the nanoparticles (CeCh–NPs) was created by ionic gelation method. After characterizing (DLS, Zeta potential, FTIR and FESEM) and confirming the presence of nanoparticles, its toxicity effects were evaluated by MTT method and its pro-apoptotic effects were evaluated by qPCR (Caspase 3 and 9) and flow cytometric analysis. CeO₂–NPs were formed with uniform dispersion (PDI: 0.25) in nanometer dimensions (184.84 nm) and after coating, their size increase to 202.35 nm was confirmed by DLS method. The CeCh–NPs were spherical, stable (ζ potential:?+?35.4 mV) and uniformly dispersed (PDI: 0.27). The median concentrations of nanoparticles against AGS, A459, PC3 and HFF cells were reported to be about 156.02, 169.1, 155.8 and 307.5 μg/ml. Increased expression of caspase 3 and 9 genes as well as increased percentage of SubG1 phase cells in flow cytometry confirmed the occurrence of apoptosis in treated cells. The results of this study confirmed the anticancer properties of CeCh–NPs by relying on the apoptosis process.