Green synthesized nickel doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles exhibit antibacterial activity and induce reactive oxygen species mediated apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells through inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.

This study aimed to synthesize the nickel (Ni) doped cobalt ferrite (CFO) nanoparticles and to determine its anticancer effect on breast cancer MCF-7 cells. The various concentrations of Ni (0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1%) doped CFO nanoparticles were synthesized using Coriandrum sativum extracts by precipitation technique. The synthesized Ni-CFO was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic, transmission electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer analyses. The results show that 0.8% Ni-CFO nanoparticles showed good magnetic properties and antioxidant activity than other concentrations of Ni-CFO. The results showed that the administration of 0.8% Ni-CFO nanoparticles promoted apoptosis, and reduced cell adhesion and migration of MCF-7 cells, as demonstrated by increased lipid peroxidation, decreased antioxidant levels such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, and increased formation of reactive oxygen species. Moreover, administration of 0.8% Ni-CFO nanoparticles decreased the Bcl-2 expression while activating the expression of p53, Bax, and cleaved caspase 3, 8 and 9 protein expression. Notably, 0.8% Ni-CFO treatment reduced phospho-PI3K, phospho-Akt, and phospho-mTOR expression levels. As a result, via altering apoptotic related proteins, 0.8% Ni-CFO induced cell death. Therefore, the 0.8% Ni-CFO could be utilized to treat breast cancer.