With an aim to overcome multidrug
resistance (MDR), nontargeted
delivery, and drug toxicity, we developed a new nanochemotherapeutic
system with tetrasodium salt of meso-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin
(TPPS) armored on gold nanoparticles (TPPS-AuNPs). The nanocarrier
is able to be selectively internalized within tumor cells than in
normal cells followed by endocytosis and therefore delivers the antitumor
drug doxorubicin (DOX) particularly to the nucleus of diseased cells.
The embedment of TPPS on the gold nanosurface provides excellent stability
and biocompatibility to the nanoparticles. Porphyrin interacts with
the gold nanosurface through the coordination interaction between
gold and pyrrolic nitrogen atoms of the porphyrin and forms a strong
association complex. DOX-loaded nanocomposite (DOX@TPPS-AuNPs) demonstrated
enhanced cellular uptake with significantly reduced drug efflux in
MDR brain cancer cells, thereby increasing the retention time of the
drug within tumor cells. It exhibited about 9 times greater potency
for cellular apoptosis via triggered release commenced by acidic pH.
DOX has been successfully loaded on the porphyrin-modified gold nanosurface
noncovalently with high encapsulation efficacy (∼90%) and tightly
associated under normal physiological conditions but capable of releasing
∼81% of drug in a low-pH environment. Subsequently, DOX-loaded
TPPS-AuNPs exhibited higher inhibition of cellular metastasis, invasion,
and angiogenesis, suggesting that TPPS-modified AuNPs could improve
the therapeutic efficacy of the drug molecule. Unlike free DOX, drug-loaded
TPPS-AuNPs did not show toxicity toward normal cells. Therefore, higher
drug encapsulation efficacy with selective targeting potential and
acidic-pH-mediated intracellular release of DOX at the nucleus make
TPPS-AuNPs a “magic bullet” for implication in nanomedicine.