Dual functional selenium-substituted hydroxyapatite

Hydroxyapatite (HA) doped with trace elements has attracted much attention recently owing to its excellent biological functions. Herein, we use a facile co-precipitation method to incorporate selenium into HA by adding sodium selenite during synthesis. The obtained selenium-substituted HA products are needle-like nanoparticles which have  size and crystallinity that are similar to those of the pure HA nanoparticles (HANs) when the selenium content is low. HANs are found to have the ability to induce the apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells, and the anti-tumour effects are enhanced after incorporation of selenium. Meanwhile, the nanoparticles can also support the growth of bone marrow stem cells. Furthermore, the flow cytometric results indicate that the apoptosis induction of osteosarcoma cells is caused by the increased reactive oxygen species and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential. These results show that the selenium-substituted HANs are potentially promising bone graft materials in osteosarcoma treatment due to their dual functions of supporting normal cell growth and inducing tumour cell apoptosis.