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Biological Effect of Silver-modified Nanostructured Titanium Dioxide in Cancer
Nefeli Lagopati1,2,3, Athanassios Kotsinas1, Dimitris Veroutis1,3
1Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Molecular Carcinogenesis Group, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Background/Aim:
Nanomedicine is a promising scientific field that exploits the unique properties of innovative nanomaterials, providing alternative solutions in diagnostics, prevention and therapeutics. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) have a great spectrum of photocatalytic antibacterial and anticancer applications. The chemical modification of TiO2 optimizes its bioactive performance. The aim of this study was the development of silver modified NPs (Ag/TiO2 NPs) with anticancer potential.
Materials And Methods:
Ag/TiO2 NPs were prepared through the sol-gel method, were fully characterized and were tested on cultured breast cancer epithelial cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231). The MTT colorimetric assay was used to estimate cellular viability. Western blot analysis of protein expression along with a DNA-laddering assay were employed for apoptosis detection.
Results And Conclusion:
We show that photo-activated Ag/TiO2 NPs exhibited significant cytotoxicity on the highly malignant MDA-MB-231 cancer cells, inducing apoptosis, while MCF-7 cells that are characterized by low invasive properties were unaffected under the same conditions.
