A novel nanocomposite fabrication of chitosan with tungstate oxide nanoplatform doped with bovine lactoperoxidase: characterizations and diverse biological assessments

The integration of enzyme activity with the characteristics of nanomaterials represents a promising approach to addressing cancer-related health threats. Hence, a novel nanoplatform comprising chitosan (CS) and tungstate oxide (WO) with a surface functionalized by bovine-milk lactoperoxidase (LPO) was developed for potential applications in anticancer and antibacterial therapies. The new nanoplatform (LPO-CS-WO) was characterized through different instrumental approaches, including SEM, TEM, FTIR, and Raman analysis. The newly developed LPO-CS-WO nanocomposite revealed high safety on normal HSF cells (IC₅₀ of 1606 ± 30 µg/mL) with dose-dependent anticancer activity against Caco-2, MDA, and HepG-2 cell lines (IC₅₀ of 425 ± 30, 23 ± 1.06, and 28 ± 0.75 µg/mL, respectively). The anticancer mechanism was postulated to involve apoptosis induction in tumor cells, as evidenced by notable up-regulation of p53 and p21, along with concurrent down-regulation of survivin and Bcl-2 gene expressions observed in LPO-CS-WO treated HepG-2 cells compared to control groups. Additionally, the LPO-CS-WO treated cells revealed significant suppression for inflammatory markers, TNF-α, IL-6, VEGF, and NF-ĸB expression levels compared to non-treated controls. Moreover, the novel nanoplatform exhibited noteworthy narrow-spectrum activity against Staphylococcus aureus, manifesting a halo-zone diameter of approximately 20.1 ± 1.2 mm, surpassing that of amoxicillin (10 mm). Hence, the current study signifies the in vitro anticancer activity of a novel CS-WO nanoplatform decorated with LPO enzyme.