Nanodiamond-Metformin Complex Cytotoxicity In MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

Breast cancer represents a significant burden of mortality worldwide. Conventional treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, cause serious side effects due to toxicity to healthy tissues. N anotherapies, such as nanodiamonds (NDs) functionalized with different drugs, have emerged as innovative approaches that offer greater precision in targeting cancer cells. Studies have revealed that the ND-metformin (ND-Met) complex is cytotoxic to triple-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231 and HS578T) and SOKV3 ovarian cancer cells. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of ND-Met on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. MCF-7 cells were exposed to the ND-Met complex and incubated to determine cell viability using the resazurin assay. Nonfunctionalized ND, Met, and DMSO at the same concentrations were used as controls. The results showed that the ND-Met complex significantly decreased MCF −7 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner at 24 h. However, the effect of the ND-Met complex did not inhibit cell proliferation at 48 and 72 h. According to the analysis of morphological alterations, cell death, such as cell shrinkage, condensation, and nuclear fragmentation, was induced by apoptosis. These results suggest that the cytotoxic effect of the ND-Met complex could be related to the induction of apoptosis. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that the ND-Met complex has therapeutic potential in luminal A breast cancer, providing the first innovative and promising approach for developing new effective therapies against this type of breast cancer.