Soybean agglutinin-conjugated silver nanoparticles nanocarriers in the treatment of breast cancer cells

AbstractSilver nanoparticles (AgNPs) induce diverse cell-death mechanisms, similar to those promoted by anticancer chemotherapeutics; however, they have not been tested in vivo because their action is not limited to cancer cells. Therefore, in vivo evaluations of their effectiveness should be developed with targeting systems. Breast cancer shows changes in the sugar expression patterns on cell surfaces, related to cancer progression and metastases; those changes have been identified previously by the specific binding of soybean agglutinin (SBA). Here is proposed the use of SBA to target the AgNP activity in breast cancer. For that, the present work reports the synthesis of AgNPs (3.89 ± 0.90 nm) through the polyol method, the generation of AgNP nanocarriers, and the bioconjugation protocol of the nanocarrier with SBA. The free AgNPs, the AgNP nanocarriers, and the SBA-bioconjugated AgNP nanocarriers were tested for cytotoxicity in breast cancerous (MDA-MB-231and MCF7) and non cancerous (MCF 10A) cells, us...