Quantitative characterization of the effect of biogenic silver-based nanoparticles on breast cancer cells by high content analysis

background: Breast cancer being the most common among women. Due to the resistance to antitumor treatments, alternative treatments have been sought, as metallic nanoparticles objective: This study aimed to evaluate the antitumor potential and cytotoxicity induction mechanisms of green synthesized AgCl-NPs and Ag/AgCl-NPs. method: The antitumor potential of nanoparticles was evaluated in breast cancer BT-474 and MDA-MB-436 cell lines treated with 0-40 μg/mL AgCl-NPs or 0-12.5 μg/mL Ag/AgCl-NPs through image-based high content analysis method. Normal human retinal pigment epithelial 1 (RPE-1) cells were used for comparison. result: The growth rate of the RPE-1 cells treated with nanoparticles was little affected, and no significant changes in cell viability were observed. In these cells, the nanoparticle treatments did not induce lysosomal damage, changes in ROS production or reduction in the mitochondrial membrane potential. The level of BT-474 and MDA-MB-436 cell proliferation was markedly decreased, and cell viability was reduced by 64.19 and 46.19 conclusion: Together, the results show overall cytotoxic effects of both AgCl-NPs and Ag/AgCl-NPs towards breast cancer cells with negligible effects against healthy cells, which suggests their promising anticancer and biomedical applications.