Apoptotic efficacy of biogenic silver nanoparticles on human breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines

This article describes the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using the aqueous extract of Alternanthera sessilis as a reducing agent by sonication, espousing green chemistry principles. Biologically synthesized nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have significant potential in the field of biopharmaceutics due to its smaller size entailing high surface area and synergistic effects of embedded biomolecules. In the present work the cytotoxic effect of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles studied by MTT assay against breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cell line) showed significant cytotoxic activity with IC50 value 3.04 μg/mL compared to that of standard cisplatin. The superior activity of the silver nanoparticles may be due to the spherical shape and smaller particle size 10–30 nm as confirmed from transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis. The data obtained in the study reveal the potent therapeutic value of biogenic silver nanoparticles and the scope for further development of anticancer drugs. © 2015, The Author(s).