Mucilage‐assisted fabrication of molybdenum trioxide nanostructures for photothermal ablation of breast cancer cells

Abstract Nanostructures have been used for various biomedical applications due to their optical, antibacterial, magnetic, antioxidant, and biocompatible properties. Cancer is a prevalent disease that severely threatens human life and health. Thus, innovative and effective therapeutic approaches are urgently required for cancer. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a promising approach to killing cancer cells. In this investigation, we developed a low‐cost, simple, green technique to fabricate molybdenum trioxide nanostructures (MNs) using Opuntia ficus‐indica mucilage as a template. Moreover, the MNs were functionalized with folic acid (FA) for cancer PTT. The X‐ray diffractometer results revealed that the prepared MNs have an orthorhombic crystal phase. The transmission electron microscope image of MNs shows a flake shape with 20–150 nm diameter. The cytotoxicity of MNs and FA‐conjugated MNs was studied in vitro. These cell viability assay results suggested that fabricated MoO 3 nanostructures reduced 25% of cell viability in MCF‐7 cells, even at high doses. However, even with high‐dose treatment, FA/MNs do not cause significant cell death. Acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining revealed DNA and chromatin condensation in MCF‐7 cells exposed to MNs. Overall, the in vitro study results suggested that FA/MNs have excellent biocompatibility, which applies to biomedical applications. MNs dispersion temperature gradually increases from 26 to 58°C under 808 nm laser irradiation. We found significant mortality rates after NIR irradiation in MNs‐ or FA/MNs‐treated MCF‐7 cells. These findings suggest that FA/MNs can be used as an effective photothermal agent to treat breast cancer.