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ROS-induced cytotoxicity of colloidal copper nanoparticles in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line: an in vitro study

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Abstract

Copper is known for its bactericidal properties since ancient time. Development of copper nanoparticle (CNP) based antimicrobial products has generated interest in studying their toxicological properties. In this article, we have investigated the ROS (reactive oxygen species)–induced cytotoxicity of colloidal CNPs on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. To understand the dependence of nanoparticle’s anticancer potential on their per batch yield, three identical sets of CNPs with similar physical properties with hydrodynamic size (11–14 nm) were prepared by chemical reduction method with per batch yield of 0.2 g, 0.3 g, and 0.4 g. Dose-dependent toxicity of as-synthesized (i.e., without any post preparation treatment) CNPs was evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) colorimetric assay for CNP concentrations of 0.001–100 μg/mL. Strong dose-dependent toxicity was observed in all CNPs batches, which was because of the mitochondrial damage in MCF-7. Cytotoxicity in MCF-7 exposed to CNPs was observed due to rupture of cell membrane and shrinkage as well as oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS). IC50 values of CNPs were independent of per batch yield of CNPs. This confirms that increase in CNPs yield from 0.2 to 0.4 g has no negative correlation with their cytotoxic response. The ability to scale up the nanoparticle yield with strong dose-dependent cytotoxicity makes CNPs potential candidate for the development of anticancer drugs.

Graphical Abstract

An electrochemical mixed aptamer-antibody sandwich assay based on the aptamer-induced HCR amplification strategy was fabricated for the highly sensitive detection of MUC16. The mixed aptamer-antibody sandwich assay showed acceptable performance of detection range, detection limit, reproducibility, and selectivity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to DST, New Delhi, for the FIST - I (SR/FST/PSI-176/2012) program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, 147004, India

    Purnima Sharma, Dinesh Goyal & Manoj Baranwal

  2. School of Physics and Materials Science, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, 147004, India

    Purnima Sharma & Bhupendra Chudasama

  3. Thapar-VT Center of Excellence in Emerging Materials (CEEMS), Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, 147004, India

    Bhupendra Chudasama

Authors
  1. Purnima Sharma
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  2. Dinesh Goyal
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  3. Manoj Baranwal
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  4. Bhupendra Chudasama
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All the authors have contributed equally in this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bhupendra Chudasama.

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Xiaoshan (Sean) Zhu, University of Nevada, Guest Editor

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This article is part of the topical collection: Nanoparticles in Biotechnology and Medicine

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Sharma, P., Goyal, D., Baranwal, M. et al. ROS-induced cytotoxicity of colloidal copper nanoparticles in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line: an in vitro study. J Nanopart Res 22, 244 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-020-04976-7

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