Cytotoxic effects of novel solvothermal synthesised Ag-doped PEGylated WO3 sheet-like nanocomposites on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells

Nanotechnology has provided an unprecedented opportunity in addressing challenges faced by cancer treatment. Nanomaterials represent a promising and versatile method in biomedical applications. PEGylation of nanomaterials is considered as the most effective strategy for commercial relevance. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel solvothermal synthesis of PEGylated tungsten trioxide (PEG-WO3) and Ag-doped PEGylated tungsten trioxide (Ag/PEG-WO3) (1:2 ratio) sheet-like nanocomposites and to investigate the in vitro anticancer activities of PEGylated WO3 and Ag-doped PEGylated tungsten trioxide (Ag/ PEG-WO3) (1:2 ratio) nanoparticles on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. The structural, morphological and textural properties were characterized by powder X-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscope, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and FTIR. The XRD analysis proved that doping of Ag NPs into the lattice of PEGylated WO3 and TEM image indicated the successful anchoring of spherical-like shape of Ag NPs approximately 6-8 nm in size onto the sheet-like PEGylated WO3. Morphological changes, ATP proliferation, cytotoxicity, caspase activity and nuclear damage of NPs treated an MCF-7 cell line were assessed. The Ag-doped PEGylated WO3 nanoparticles (10 mu g/mL) showed more toxicity towards MCF-7 cells in LDH assay (p < 0.05), reduced the proliferation (p < 0.01) and induced the caspase 3/7 activities significantly (p < 0.01). The morphological changes of MCF-7 cells after the treatments and results of Hoechst stain indicated nuclear damage. These results indicate a successful synthesis of a novel solvothermal nanocomposite capable of inducing cancer cell death.