Search

Radiation therapy and phototherapy are commonly used cancer treatments that offer advantages such as a low risk of adverse effects and the ability to target cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. A promising strategy for cancer treatment involves using nanoparticles (NPs) in combination with radiation and photothermal therapy to target cancer cells and improve treatment efficacy. The synthesis of gold NPs (AuNPs) for use in biomedical applications has traditionally involved toxic reducing agents. Here we harnessed dopamine (DA)-conjugated alginate (Alg) for the facile and green synthesis of Au NPs (Au@Alg-DA NPs). Alg-DA conjugate reduced Au ions, simultaneously stabilized the resulting AuNPs, and prevented aggregation, resulting in particles with a narrow size distribution and improved stability. Injectable Au@Alg-DA NPs significantly promoted ROS generation in 4T1 breast cancer cells when exposed to X-rays. In addition, their administration raised the temperature under a light excitation of 808 nm, thus helping to destroy cancer cells more effectively. Importantly, no substantial cytotoxicity was detected in our Au@Alg-DA NPs. Taken together, our work provides a promising route to obtain an injectable combined radio enhancer and photothermally active nanosystem for further potential clinic translation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This study aimed to develop a novel radiosensitizer consisting of platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) as a high-atomic-number element in order to maximize the generation of ROS under ionizing radiation at the tumor site. Pt NPs were produced via a green and facile method in the presence of gelatin (Gel) as both reducing and stabilizing agent. After determining the physical structure and chemical composition of Pt@Gel NPs by STEM, FeSEM, EDS, DLS, XRD and FTIR, in vitro cytotoxicity on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and breast cancer cell line (4T1) was evaluated by MTT assay. Finally, ROS generation assay, calcein AM/PI staining assay and clonogenic test were performed on 4T1 cells under X-Ray irradiation to evaluate the radioenhancment efficiency of Pt@Gel. The prepared NPs exhibited spherical and uniform shapes and narrowly distributed sizes in addition to an acceptable radiosensitization capability. The nanosystem provided higher levels of intracellular ROS in malignant cells and enhanced cancer cell death rate under X-Ray irradiation. Overall, the findings suggested that Pt@Gel could be a safe and effective alternative to existing radiosensitizers and potentially be employed for the treatment of breast cancer., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)