Stem cells as in vitro model for testing nanodrug delivery properties of selenium nanoparticles

Nanotechnology enabled design of selenium nano form, with enhanced biological activity and reduced toxicity. Specifically, selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have attracted significant interest due to the simple and efficient preparation, along with favorable properties [1]. The growing number of published data originating from in vitro studies of selenium compounds highlight its promising anticancer effects [2, 3]. The development of SeNP-based chemotherapeutics with the potential to cross the blood-brain- barrier (BBB) is of particular research interest. However, brain-acting therapeutics require extensive toxicity testing prior to their clinical application. As induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are a powerful in vitro model, this STSM was focused on the use of iPSC line generated from a Parkinson’s disease patient carrying a mutation in LRRK2 gene. The cells were characterized by abnormal expression of alpha synuclein, protein identified as one of the factors in Parkinson disease and tumorigenesis [4, 5]. When the SP12 iPSC cells reached 80 % confluency, embryoid bodies (EBs) were generated. Then, dopaminergic neurons were successfully generated, as confirmed by staining the cells with antibodies specific for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin (TUJ1). The neurons were then treated with SeNPs and evaluated by immunofluorescence method. The neurons were stained with fluorescently labeled antibodies for TH and Alpha-synuclein, and DAPI was used to counterstain for nuclei. iPSC-derived neuronal cells were sensitive to treatment with SeNPs, which caused apoptosis in majority of the cells.