Fabrication of Calcium Sulfate Coated Selenium Nanoparticles and  Corresponding In-Vitro Cytotoxicity Effects Against 4T1 Breast Cancer Cell Line

Elnaz  Faghfuri; Ramak Ajideh; Faranak   Shahverdi; Mina  Hosseini; Faranak  Mavandadnejad; Mohammad Hossein   Yazdi; Ahmad Reza  Shahverdi

doi:10.18502/ajmb.v13i4.7205

Elnaz Faghfuri Biotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ramak Ajideh Biotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Faranak Shahverdi Recombinant Vaccine Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mina Hosseini Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Faranak Mavandadnejad Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Hossein Yazdi Recombinant Vaccine Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ahmad Reza Shahverdi Biotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ajmb.v13i4.7205

Keywords: Apoptosis, Breast neoplasms, Calcium sulfate, Nanoparticles, Selenium

Abstract

Background: The inhibitory effect of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) on cancer cells has been reported in many studies. In this study, the purpose was to compare the in vitro effects of SeNPs and calcium sulfate coated selenium nanoparticles (CaSO₄@ SeNPs) on breast cancer cells.

Methods: CaSO₄@SeNPs and SeNPs were chemically synthesized and characterized with Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). By applying MTT assay, the cytotoxicity effect of both nanomaterials on the 4T1 cancer cells was investigated.

Results: While LD₅₀ of SeNPs on 4T1 cancer cells was 80 µg, the LD₅₀ of CaSO₄@SeNPs was reported to be only 15 µg. The difference between the inhibition rates obtained for SeNPs and CaSO₄@SeNPs was statistically significant (p=0.05). In addition, at higher concentrations (50 µg) of CaSO₄@SeNPs, the cytotoxicity was 100% more than SeNPs alone.

Conclusion: According to the result of the present work, it can be concluded that de-coration of SeNPs with calcium sulfate leads to an increase in potency by decreasing the effective dose. This effect can be attributed to activation of intrinsic apoptosis signaling and/or pH regulatory properties of CaSO₄@SeNPs. However, further studies are still needed to determine the exact corresponding mechanisms of this synergistic effect.