Fig. 4

Fluorescence microscopy images and p53 expression of DS–CuO NPs- and DS–Cu-treated cancer cells. a Images of untreated and treated cancer cells after nuclear staining with acridine orange and ethidium bromide (green, yellow and orange-red fluorescences refer to healthy alive, early apoptotic and late apoptotic cells, respectively) at magnification, 100 ×; scale bar, 50 µm. b Fold change in p53 expression, in the treated MDA-MB 231, A549 and Huh7 cells, relative to the untreated cells. Data (mean ± SEM), DS–CuO NPs was compared to DS–Cu and considered significantly different at p <  < 0.05*, < 0.005**, < 0.001***