. 2020 Jul 11;10(20):8996–9031. doi: 10.7150/thno.45413

Table 5.

Anticancer Mechanisms of Silver Nanoparticles

Cancer cell lines	AgNPs		Concentration, IC₅₀, exposure time	Manners	Mode of action	References
Cancer cell lines	Synthesis methods	Size; Shape	Concentration, IC₅₀, exposure time	Manners	Mode of action	References
HeLa cells	Plant	40 nm; spherical and pentagonal	25, 50, 100, 250 μg/mL; 24 h	Dose-dependent	ROS generation; ultrastructural changes; mitochondrial dysfunction	229
HeLa cells	Plant	33 nm; face-centered-cubic	0-100 μg/ml; 24 h	Concentration-dependent	Sub G1 cell cycle arrest; ROS generation; down-regulation of MMP	261
HeLa cells	Chemical	20-40 nm; spherical	1.35 μg/mL and 13.5 μg/mL; 24 h and 48 h	Dose-, concentration- and time-dependent	Decreased the number of cells at S and G2/M phase; increased the number of cells at sub-G1 phase	244
HeLa cells	Chemical	26.5 ± 8.4 nm; spherical	10, 20, 50 μg/mL; 10 h and 24 h	Dose- and time-dependent	Regulation of PtdIns3K signaling pathway	22
A549	Fungi	25 nm; round and triangular	1-10 μg/mL; 48 h	-	ROS generation; nucleus damage	273
A549	Plant	17-25.8 nm	25 µg/ml	-	Activation of apoptotic gene; inhibition of cell migration and invasion	274
MCF-7	Plant	22 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 20 µg/ml; 24 h and 48 h	Dose- and time-dependent	ROS generation; DNA damage; disruption of the cell membrane	275
MCF-7	Plant	12 nm; different shapes	IC₅₀: 20 μg/mL; 24 h	Dose-dependent	Regulation of Bax and Bcl-2 gene expression	276
MCF-7	Peptides	31.61 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 104.1 μg/mL; 24 h	Dose-dependent	ROS generation; disruption of mitochondrial respiratory chain	277
MCF-7, EAC	Algae	7.1-26.68 nm; spherical	IC50: 13.07 ± 1.1 µg/mL; 48h	Dose-dependent	Inhibition of proliferation; mitochondria dysfunction	278
A549	Plant	6-45 nm; spherical	10 µg/mL and 25 µg/mL; 24h	Dose-dependent	Inhibition of proliferation, migration and invasion	23
MCF-7; MDA-MB-231	Plant	15-30 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 20 μg/mL (MCF-7), 30 μg/mL (MDA-MB-231)	Dose-dependent	Regulation of p53, Bax and Bcl-2 expressions	279
A549	Plant	45.12 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 62.82 μg/mL (24 h) and 42.44 μg/mL (48 h)	Dose- and time-dependent	S phase cycle arrest; decrease of cell population in sub G1 phase	280
A549; Hep G2	Purchased	21 ± 8 and 72 ± 11 nm; spherical	1-20 μg/mL; 48 h	Concentration- and dose-dependent	Inhibition of telomerase activity and telomere dysfunction	240
HT29	Plant	9.13 ± 4.86 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 38.55 μg/mL; 24 h	Dose-dependent	Induction of apoptosis pathway	281
HCT116	Bacteria	15 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 0.069 µg/mL; 24 h	Dose- and time-dependent	Induction of nuclear condensation and fragmentation	159
HCT-116	Plant	24-150 nm; spherical, triangular	IC₅₀: 100 μg/ml; 24 h	Dose-dependent	Up-regulated modulators of apoptosis, Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and Caspase-9; mitotic arrest; DNA fragmentation	282
PANC-1	Purchased	2.6 and 18 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 1.67 μg/mL (2.6 nm), and 26.81 μg/mL (18 nm); 1 h, 24 h	Size- and concentration-dependent	Ultrastructural change; regulation of p53, Bax, Bcl-2, RIP-1, RIP-3, MLKL and LC3-II expression,	211
SCC-25	Purchased	10 ± 4 nm; spherical, cubic	IC₅₀: 37.87 μg/mL; 24 h	Dose-dependent	Chromosome instability; mitotic arrest; regulation of gene expression	24
HOS; HCC	Fungi	8 ± 2.7 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: < 5 μg/mL (Huh7 cells), 10 μg/mL (OS cells)	Dose-dependent	ROS generation; activation of JNK signaling	283
CNE; HEp-2	Chemical	20 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 9.909 μg/mL; 24 h	Dose-dependent	Mitotic arrest; regulation of Bax and P21 and Bcl-2 expression	284
PC-3	Plant	9 - 32 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: < 10 μg/mL; 24 h	Dose-dependent	Decrease of stat-3 and bcl-2 expression; increase of caspase-3 expression	285
DU145; PC-3; SKOV3; A549	Plant	10 - 30 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 4.35 μg/mL (DU145); 7.72 μg/mL (PC-3); 4.2 μg/mL (SKOV3); 24.7 μg/mL (A549)	Dose-dependent	ROS generation; regulation of LPO and GSH level; regelation of caspase, p53 and Bax and Bcl-2	29
DLA	Bacteria	50 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 500 nmol/L; 6 h	Dose- and time-dependent	Activation of caspase 3; DNA fragmentation	286
SKBR3; 8701-BC; HT-29; HCT 116; Caco-2	Bacteria	11 ± 5 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 5 μg/ml (SKBR3); 8 μg/ml (8701-BC); 20 μg/ml (HT-29); 26 μg/ml (HCT116); 34 μg/ml (Caco-2)	Dose- and time-dependent	Decrease of MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities; ROS generation	269
Murine fibrosarcoma	Chemical	10 nm; spherical	IC₅₀: 6.15 mg/kg	Dose-dependent	ROS generation; alteration of the IL-1b function	287
BxPC-3; A549; PC-3; Hep G2; CNE1; AsPC-1; U-87 MG; SW480; EC109; MDA-MB-231	Physical	19.2 ± 3.8 Ång; spherical	IC50: 10.36-25.85 μg/ml; 0 - 400 min, 24h	Dose- and time-dependent	Ultrastructure change; ROS generation; mitochondrial dysfunction; cell cycle arrest	21

*NOTE: ROS, reactive oxygen species; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; LPO, lipid peroxidation; GSH, glutathione; JNK, c-jun N-terminal kinase; MCF-7, human breast cancer cell line; EAC, ehrlich ascites carcinoma; A549, human lung carcinoma cells; BxPC-3, human pancreas adenocarcinoma cells; PC3, prostate adenocarcinoma cells; HepG2, hepatocellular carcinoma cells; CNE1, nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells; AsPC-1, pancreas adenocarcinoma cells; U-87 MG, glioblastoma cells; SW480, colorectal adenocarcinoma cells; EC109, esophageal cancer cells; MDA-MB-231, breast adenocarcinoma cells; HT29, human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line; HCT-116, human colon cancer cell line; PANC-1, human pancreatic ductal cell line; SCC25, human tongue squamous carcinoma; DU145 and PC-3, human prostate carcinoma cell lines; SKOV3, human ovarian carcinoma; CNE, human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line; HEp-2, laryngeal carcinoma cell line; DLA, Dalton's lymphoma ascites cell lines; SKBR3, human breast cancer cell line; Caco-2, heterogeneous human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cells; HCC, human hepatocellular carcinoma cells; HOS, human osteosarcoma cells; MDA-MB-231, triple-negative breast cancer cell line.