In Vitro Antitumor Activity of Metal Complexes of Salinomycin with Cobalt (Co(II)), Copper (Cu(II)) and Zinc (Zn(II)) Ions Against Human Cervical Cancer (HeLa) and Melanoma (A375, SH-4) Cells

In this study, we present new data about the cytotoxic activity of metal complexes of salinomycin with Co(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) against human cervical cancer (HeLa) and melanoma (A375, SH-4) cell lines. The effect of the compounds on cell viability and proliferation was evaluated in short-term experiments (up to 72 h) with monolayer cultures using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test, neutral red uptake (NR), crystal violet staining (CV) and double staining with acridine orange (AO) and propidium iodide (PI). The cytotoxic effect of the metal complexes of salinomycin was found to be comparable and even superior to that of the commercial antitumor agents cisplatin and oxaliplatin. Long-term experiments revealed the ability of the compounds to completely suppress 3D cell growth when applied at concentrations ≥ 3.1 μM (for HeLa cells) and ≥6.2 µM (for A375 cells). Embryonic Lep-3 cells are highly sensitive to the influence of the complexes investigated, whereas non-tumor HaCaT human keratinocytes exhibit relatively higher resistance to their cytotoxic effect compared to tumor cell lines. The Zn(II) disalinomycinate exerted the highest selectivity index among the tested compounds against melanoma cells, whereas the non-coordinated antibiotic showed pronounced selectivity toward HeLa cells.