Assessment of caspase activated DNase (CAD) gene expression on MCF-7 breast cancer cell line treated by biosynthesized silver nano particles

Breast Cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women and is also the second major cause of cancer. Due to the acquired resistance of cancer cells against conventional therapies and recurrence of the sickness after treatment, new therapeutic strategies based on triggering apoptosis have been proposed. The purpose of the present study is to introduce a cytotoxic effect of biological silver nanoparticles toward breast cancer MCF-7 cells and evaluation of the caspase-activated DNase (CAD) gene expression at mRNA level.

Silver nanoparticles were synthesized according to the recent biosynthesize method. Afterward, the Silver nanoparticles were inspected using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Different concentrations of 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg/ml of Nanosilver particles were treated on MCF-7 cells for 24 hours and the results were evaluated using the MTT assay and IC50 were measured. The level expression of CAD gene was evaluated using real-time PCR.

Silver nanoparticles were mostly spherical, having an average size of 9.13±4.86 nm.  Silver nanoparticles demonstrated a dose-dependent toxic effect toward MCF-7 cells. The IC50 value of silver nanoparticles was measured 49μg/mL. In addition, the expression of CAD decreased by 0.77 fold, compared to the control group.

The results of the present study demonstrated that the silver nanoparticles can induce cytotoxicity against breast cells and it is necessary to perform more tests against animal models.