Molecular Docking and Anticancerous Activity of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized From Fruits of Prunus nepalensis Extract

Nanomedicine is currently vital for different disease therapeutics. Thus, we synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles from Prunus nepalensis and studied the effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (PNZnONPs) on the inhibition of breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MCF10A). UV‒Vis, SEM, and XRD analytical methods were used for nanoparticle characterization. MCF10A and MCF-7 cells were treated with six different doses of PNZnONPs (5, 10, 20, 40, 50, and 100 µg/mL) for the cell viability study by MTT assay. Moreover, two doses (40 and 100 µg/mL) were used for the qRT-PCR, and 100 µg/mL was used for western blotting studies to determine the levels of mRNA gene and protein expression, respectively. Furthermore, molecular docking studies revealed that protein‒ligand interactions were significantly effective in inhibiting the proliferation of breast cancer cells. All the studied bioactive compounds showed better responses in ADMET studies. Both the mRNA and protein levels of the tumor suppressor gene p53 and the apoptotic gene Bax were upregulated in PNZnONP-treated MCF-7 cells. PNZnONPs stimulated caspase-3 enzyme activity and DNA fragmentation in MCF-7 cells and thus showed potential significant activity against cancer cell proliferation.