The Anticancer Effect of Magnetic Selenium-Based Nanocomposites on Tongue Carcinoma Stem Cells (In Vitro Study).

Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma is an aggressive type of oral carcinomas. Resistance to conventional therapy is suggested to be caused by cancer stem cells. Selenium nanoparticles are recently emerging as promising anticancer agent. The production of nanostructures with magnetic properties presented a great interest in the field of biomedicine. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the anticancer potential of three different magnetic selenium nanocomposites against tongue carcinoma stem cells in vitro. Cultured tongue carcinoma stem cells were classified into four groups. Group I received no treatment. Groups II, III, and IV received magnetic selenium, titanium-magnetic selenium, and sodium borate-magnetic selenium nanocomposites respectively. The cultured cells were analyzed by MTT cell proliferation assay and a transmission electron microscope at 24 and 48 h. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test. MTT assay revealed that at 24 h, only group II showed significant reduction in cell proliferation compared to groups I, III, and IV. However, after 48 h, all intervention groups showed significant reduction in cell proliferation compared to the untreated group. Ultrastructural examination revealed that all the used nanocomposites had an apoptogenic activity against cultured cells at both 24 and 48 h intervals. The most obvious ultrastructural changes appeared in group II followed by group III at 48 h. It was concluded that the three magnetic selenium nanocomposites demonstrated an anticancer effect against tongue carcinoma stem cells in vitro. This effect became more pronounced by increasing the exposure time. Magnetic selenium nanocomposite alone appeared to be the most promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]