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Sustainable development of novel zinc oxide nano flowers mediated red yeast rice for control of hepatocellular carcinoma
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  • Published: 24 February 2026

Sustainable development of novel zinc oxide nano flowers mediated red yeast rice for control of hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Ahmed Jamal Jasim1,2,
  • Muhammad Rahimi Yusop2,
  • Bakr Ahmed Taha3,
  • Ahmed A. AL-Amiery4,
  • Noor Malik Saadoon5,
  • Muhammad Faheem Akhtar6,
  • Majid S. Jabir7,
  • Alaa Bassuny Ismael8 &
  • …
  • Ayman A. Swelum9 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Biochemistry
  • Biotechnology
  • Cancer
  • Chemistry
  • Drug discovery
  • Materials science
  • Nanoscience and technology

Abstract

Comparing chemically produced zinc oxide nanoparticles (CSZnO-NPs) with green synthetized zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) made using based red yeast rice (RRY) extract as a reducing and stabilising agent, this study looked at the anticancer potential of Zinc oxide NPs against liver cancer cell line. Zinc acetate dihydrate and sodium hydroxide were utilised as precursors in the chemical synthesis process. The ZnO-NPs that were biosynthesised had flower shapes and an average particle size of 22.1 ± 4.3 nm, as determined by FESEM. In contrast, the CSZnO-NPs had bigger, more irregular structures with a mean size of 37.6 ± 5.1 nm. A spectroscopic analysis of UV-VIS nanoparticles (300–800 nm) revealed unique absorption peaks, while XRD confirmed their crystal structures. Hep-G2 liver cancer cells were used to assess anticancer activity. The cytotoxicity of the green ZnO nanoflowers was much greater than that of the CSZnO-NPs, with an IC₅₀ value of 17.35 µg/mL instead of 22.68 µg/mL. In addition, molecular docking showed that stable complexes (binding energy: -7.18 kcal/mol; Ki: 5.43 µM) were generated by hydrogen bonding with LYS248, HIS179, PRO249, and LEO180 (bond distances: 2.3–3.3 Å) when ZnO nanoflowers were conjugated with the 3HB5 ligand. These results indicate that ZnO-NPs mediated by red yeast rice offer a more environmentally friendly and long-term viable option for treating liver cancer than traditional chemical production methods. Moreover, they show a quantitatively superior anticancer impact.

Data availability

All data were represented in this article.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciation to the University of Technology- Iraq for their support. The authors extend their appreciation to the Ongoing Research Funding Program (ORF-2026-971), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for funding this research. Also, the authors extend their appreciation to the fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), grant number FRGS/1/2024/STG05/UKM/01/2 funded by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

    Ahmed Jamal Jasim

  2. Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), UKM Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, 43600, Selangor, Malaysia

    Ahmed Jamal Jasim & Muhammad Rahimi Yusop

  3. Photonics Technology Research Group, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Systems Engineering,Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, 43600, Malaysia

    Bakr Ahmed Taha

  4. Al-Ayen Iraqi University, Dhi Qar, Iraq

    Ahmed A. AL-Amiery

  5. Center of Nano Technology and Advanced Materials, University of Technology- Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

    Noor Malik Saadoon

  6. Liaocheng Research Institute of Donkey High-Efficiency Breeding and Ecological Feeding, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, China

    Muhammad Faheem Akhtar

  7. College of Applied Sciences, University of Technology- Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

    Majid S. Jabir

  8. Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia

    Alaa Bassuny Ismael

  9. Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Ayman A. Swelum

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  1. Ahmed Jamal Jasim
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Contributions

A.J.J., M.S.J., and M.R.Y, Writing Original, Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Data curation and Formal examination. A.J.J., M.S.J., and M.R.Y: Main Concept, Data interpretation, and supervision. A.J.J., M.S.J., M.R.Y, B. A. T., A. A. A., N. M. S., M. F. A., A.B.I and A. A. S.: Writing-review and editing. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Rahimi Yusop, Majid S. Jabir or Ayman A. Swelum.

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Jasim, A.J., Yusop, M.R., Taha, B.A. et al. Sustainable development of novel zinc oxide nano flowers mediated red yeast rice for control of hepatocellular carcinoma. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-33746-5

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  • Received: 17 July 2025

  • Accepted: 22 December 2025

  • Published: 24 February 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-33746-5

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Keywords

  • Zinc oxide nano flowers
  • Red yeast rice
  • Anticancer
  • Hep-G2
  • Apoptosis
  • In silico study
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