The global prevalence of breast cancer has been notably high in recent years. Increased awareness, better screening practices, and access to health services are essential to address this disparity and improve the well-being of women worldwide. Moringa oleifera is one such herbal candidate drug material with potential antioxidant, antibacterial, antiedema, antifungal, antitumor, and anti-cancer properties. Therefore, an innovation is needed to enhance the effectiveness of Moringa extract's compounds using nanoparticles. This study used silver nanoparticles and chitosan, which have been extensively studied for their efficacy, especially against breast cancer cells. An in vitro study of MCF-7 and NIH-3T3 cells compared the effectiveness of both treatments viz. nano-silver (MOA) and nano-chitosan (NCM) using the MTT Assay. Both used IC50 doses based on previous studies. Further molecular (Wnt, TGFβ, and Ki-67 signaling) examination was also performed via RT-qPCR and Immunofluorescence Staining. The treatment effectively alleviated the growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. This was confirmed at the molecular level by inhibiting the expression of several genes (Wnt-βcatenin, CyclinD1, Ki-67) that contribute to the proliferation pathway and metastasis signaling genes (Snail and TGFβ). MOA and NCM, as antiproliferative green nanomaterials, have successfully suppressed gene expression in the Wnt signaling pathway. This study's results indicate that both materials are potential drug candidates for breast cancer treatment.
Susanto et al. (Fri,) studied this question.