Boric Acid Enhances Migration and Cytoskeletal Organization in T98G Cells: Against The Effects of Imatinib

Imatinib is one of the Food and Drug Administration approved tyrosine-kinase inhibitors and widely used for the treatment of various cancers. During its use for treatment, mild to moderate side effects which affect neural cells and tissues, are commonly experienced by many patients. Boric acid is a trace element found in living organisms and many beneficial effects on the healing of the damaged cells and tissues are reported in literature. Although there are numerous studies in literature that include individually applications of imatinib and boric acid, there is no study examining their combined effects on T98G glioblastoma cells. Towards this goal, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the combined treatment of imatinib (5 M) and boric acid (15 mM) on T98G cells. The results showed that cellular migration increased 2-fold (p < 0.01), cellular morphology exhibited a spindle-shaped morphology and MAP2 expression levels and f-actin intensity were 1.5-fold higher for the combined treatment compared to only imatinib administration. The results cumulatively showed that the adverse effects of imatinib on T98G cells were reduced with boric acid and the biological properties of these cells were improved.