Tungsten Oxide Nanoplates; the Novelty in Targeting Metalloproteinase-7 Gene in Both Cervix and Colon Cancer Cells Abdelrahman M. Yassin 1 & Mohamed Elnouby 2 & Nehal M. El-Deeb 1 & Elsayed E. Hafez 3 Received: 4 January 2016 /Accepted: 6 May 2016 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract In this study, we synthesized tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) nanoplates, both crystallograph- ic phases and the morphology of the samples were determined by powder x-ray diffraction and the scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The obtained data clarified that, the all prepared WO 3 ·H 2 O samples were composed of large quantity of nanoplates. The cytotoxicity patterns of nanoplates were checked on both normal and cancer mammalian cell lines. Both nanoplates cytotoxicity did not exceed the 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC50) on the all normal tested cells even by using concentrations up to 1 mg/ml. In addition, orthorhombic tungsten oxide nanoplate was more potent against both Caco2 and Hela cells by showing inhibition percentages in cellular viability 64.749 and 72.27, respectively, and with cancer selectivity index reached 3.2 and 2.6 on both colon and cervix cancer, respectively. The anticancer effects of nanoplates were translated to alteration in both pro-apoptotic and anti- apoptotic genes expressions. Tungsten oxide nanoplates down regulated the expression of B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and metalloproteinase-7 (MMP7) genes. In addition, orthorhombic tungsten oxide nanoplates showed more potentiation in IL2 and IL8 induction (40.43 pg/ml) and upregulation of TNF-α gene expression but with lower folds than Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction. Appl Biochem Biotechnol DOI 10.1007/s12010-016-2120-x * Nehal M. El-Deeb nehalmohammed83@gmail.com 1 Biopharmacetical Product Research Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications, New Borg El-Arab City, Alexandria 21934, Egypt 2 Department of Composite and Nanostructured Materials Research Department, Advanced Technology & New Materials Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications, New Borg El-Arab City, Alexandria 21934, Egypt 3 Department of Plant Protection and Biomolecular Diagnosis, ALCRI, City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications, New Borg El-Arab City, Alexandria 21934, Egypt