BIBLIOS

Document type
Journal articles

Document subtype
Full paper

Title
Gold Nanoparticles for Photothermal Therapy – influence of experimental conditions on the properties of resulting AuNPs

Participants in the publication
Mariana Neves Amaral (Author)
Daniela Nunes (Author)
Elvira Fortunato (Author)
Rodrigo Martins (Author)
Carla Rodrigues (Author)
Pedro Faísca (Author)
Hugo Alexandre Ferreira (Author)
João M.P. Coelho (Author)
Dep. Física
IBEB
M. Manuela Gaspar (Author)
Catarina Pinto Reis (Author)

Summary
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-mediated Photothermal Therapy (PTT) is a minimally-invasive therapeutic approach that uses AuNPs to convert light into heat, leading to the thermal ablation of tumours. Thus, the efficacy of this strategy strongly relies on the photothermal conversion potential of AuNPs. The ability to convert light into heat can be enhanced by tuning the physicochemical and optical properties of AuNPs. This can be achieved by changing the conditions of AuNP’s synthesis, such as the order of addition of reagents. The present work entails to explore how varying the order of reagents addition modulates the properties of AuNPs, particularly enhancing the photothermal conversion potential of the resulting AuNPs and consequently, improving PTT efficacy. For this, eleven different AuNPs nanoformulations were synthetized following different sequences of addition of reagents. These nanoformulations were characterized regarding their physicochemical properties namely size, surface charge, gold concentration, surface morphology and maximum absorbance wavelength. In addition, their thermal activation profiles were determined in vitro. Furthermore, the biocompatibility of different nanoformulations was also assessed. Three nanoformulations, with the most favorable photothermal activation profiles (AuNPs 2, 3 and 7), were then selected for preliminary in vitro safety and efficacy assays using a panel of cell lines. These three nanoformulations were deemed safe in vitro at the tested concentrations. At 250 μM of gold content, and after an incubation period of 4 h, followed by 5 min irradiation with a laser emitting at 808 nm (7.96 W/cm2), AuNPs 7 significantly reduced the cell viability of all cancer cell lines tested (MCF-7, HCT-116 and A375) by ≥ 45%. However, such cytotoxic effect was not observed for the human keratinocyte cell line HaCat, thus demonstrating its specificity towards cancer cells. Overall, the results herein presented reinforce that the order of reagents addition is highly important for achieving adequate AuNPs for PTT.


Where published
Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology

Publication Identifiers
ISSN - 1773-2247

Publisher
Elsevier BV


Document Identifiers
DOI - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2024.106215
URL - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2024.106215

Rankings
SCIMAGO Q1 (2023) - 0.72 - Pharmaceutical Science

Keywords
gold nanoparticles gold nanoflowers photothermal therapy cancer novel therapies hyperthermia photothermal agents