Hendra Susanto, Moch Sholeh, Agustina Tri Endharti, Sa'diyatul Rizqie Amaliyah Firdaus, Praseetha Prabhakaran, Nik Ahmad Nizam Nik Malek, Adeodatus Yuda Handaya, Ahmad Taufiq
Background: 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. Objectives: This study used silver nanoparticles and chitosan, which have been extensively studied for their efficacy, especially against breast cancer cells. Methods: 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. Results: 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). Conclusions: 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. © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institute of Transdisciplinary Health Science and Technology and World Ayurveda Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, 65114, Indonesia; Doctoral Program in Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Biomedical Central Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Doctoral Program in Institute of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Medicine, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan; Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, 81310, Malaysia; Centre of Sustainable Nanomaterials (CSNano), Ibnu Sina Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (ISI-ISIR), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Malaysia; Division of Digestive Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada/Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, 65114, Indonesia
