Synergistic and enhanced anticancer effect of a facile surface modified non-cytotoxic silver nanoparticle conjugated with gemcitabine in metastatic breast cancer cells

In this study, we investigated the synergistic cytotoxic effect of gemcitabine (GEM) conjugated non-cytotoxic dose of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) in MDA-MB-453 human triple-negative metastatic breast cancer cells. Synthesized AgNP and electrostatic conjugates were characterized by UV-spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDAX). GEM-(non-cytotoxic AgNP) conjugated system (IC50 = 37.64 μM) showed better cytotoxic activity in MDA-MB-453 cells when compared to individual treatments of GEM (IC50 = 56.54 μM) or AgNP (IC50 = 71.45 μg/ml). The synergism between the GEM-(non-cytotoxic AgNP) for all the tested doses were evaluated using CompuSyn software. The combination index (CI) of ED50, ED75 and ED90 showed synergism for GEM-(non-cytotoxic AgNP) conjugation. According to the calculated dose reduction index (DRI), it requires 1.70-fold less GEM plus 42.55-fold less AgNP to achieve the same 50 % inhibition at 18.38 (GEM): 1 (AgNP) ratio.Graphical abstract
Source: Materials Today Communications - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research