Fig. 2

Selective cancer growth inhibitory potency and cellular uptake of the tested compounds. a The IC₅₀ values of nanocomplex, DS–Cu and their individual components for growth inhibition (50%) of MDA-MB 231, A549, Huh7 and HepG2 cells after 48 h incubation. b Morphology alterations of DS–CuO NPs- and DS–Cu-treated four cancer cell lines compared to the untreated control cells (magnification, 100 ×; scale bar, 50 µm). c Selectivity index (SI) values of DS–CuO NPs and DS–Cu for human cancer cell lines. d Cellular uptake (%) of CuO NPs and Cu alone as well as in combination with DS after 2 h incubation with breast, lung and liver cancer cells, relative to the original amounts of Cu or CuO NPs. Data (mean ± SEM), DS–CuO NPs was compared to other tested compounds and considered significantly different at p <  < 0.05*, < 0.005**, < 0.001***