CASP3 and colonic neoplasm: In agreement with the current findings, a recent study reported that the expression levels of pro-apoptotic genes (p53, Bax and caspase-3) were significantly up-regulated, whereas the expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 was significantly down-regulated in AgNPs treated MCF-7 and colon cancer (HCT-116) cells [50].