Doxorubicin-loaded gold nanorods: a multifunctional chemo-photothermal nanoplatform for cancer management

Abstract

Two of the limitations associated with cancer treatment are the low efficacy and the high dose-related side effects of anticancer drugs. The purpose of the current study was to fabricate biocompatible multifunctional drug-loaded nanoscale moieties for co-therapy (chemo-photothermal therapy) with maximum efficacy and minimum side effects. Herein, we report in vitro anticancerous effects of doxorubicin (DOX) loaded on gold nanorods coated with the polyelectrolyte poly(sodium-4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS-GNRs) with and without NIR laser (808 nm, power density = 1.5 W/cm2 for 2 min) irradiation. The drug-loading capacity of PSS-GNRs was about 76% with a drug loading content of 3.2 mg DOX/mL. The cumulative DOX release significantly increased after laser exposure compared to non-irradiated samples (p < 0.05). The zeta potential values of GNRs, PSS-GNRs and DOX-PSS-GNRs were measured as 42 ± 0.1 mV, −40 ± 0.3 mV and 39.3 ± 0.6 mV, respectively. PSS-GNRs nanocomplexes were found to be biocompatible and showed higher photothermal stability. The DOX-conjugated nanocomplexes with NIR laser irradiation appear more efficient in cell inhibition (93%) than those without laser exposure (65%) and doxorubicin alone (84%). The IC50 values of PSS-GNRs-DOX and PSS-GNRs-DOX were measured as 7.99 and 3.12 µg/mL, respectively, with laser irradiation. Thus, a combinatorial approach based on chemotherapy and photothermal strategies appears to be a promising platform in cancer management.

Controlled Release of Doxorubicin for Targeted Chemo-Photothermal Therapy in Breast Cancer HS578T Cells Using Albumin Modified Hybrid Nanocarriers

“…In this set of experiments, the combination of laser irradiation and free DOX was not explored based on preliminary experiments, indicating no significant absorbance of DOX at 808 nm ( Figure S3 ), similarly to previous findings reporting comparable effects of free DOX with and without laser irradiation [ 27 ].…”

“…The already known properties of melanin, such as light absorption, showed a dramatic increase in the presence of silver—we observed a thermal conversion efficiency of approximately up 30%, leading to an efficient thermal gradient at a melanin concentration of only 6 μg/mL in MelaSil_Ag-HSA NPs [ 19 ]. Compared to similar melanin-like nanoparticles, the performance of light absorption at 808 nm was improved, as demonstrated by the increase of the total photothermal efficiencies and the reduction of the efficacy concentration from 100 μg/mL of melanin, as reported in other studies with different nanostructures [ 23 , 25 , 27 ], to 6 μg/mL.…”

“…Moreover, the optical absorbance given by the hybrid structure makes them suitable for therapeutic applications [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Indeed, under continuous wavelength (CW) laser stimulation, it is possible to achieve a ΔT (°C) temperature gradient up to 10 degrees centigrade in only 200 s. According to previous studies concerning different melanin nanoparticles [ 27 ], we wanted to classify the performances of MelaSil_Ag NPs in terms of photothermal properties. Indeed, because of the different hybrid compositions and structures, the physical effects and phenomena behaved differently, leading to improved thermal rise curves.…”

Nylon-6-Coated Doxorubicin-Loaded Magnetic Nanoparticles and Nanocapsules for Cancer Treatment

“…Moreover, DOX has poor solubility and tends to aggregate, leading to the creation of fibril-like structures [6]. The recent developments in this field focus on the manufacture of DOX-loaded nanocomposites, which have effectively been used for targeted delivery and efficient drug release in cancer tissue [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…Magnetochemistry 2023, 9, 106 2 of 16 However, efficient vehicle design for effective therapeutic drug delivery poses a significant challenge in clinical cancer treatment. Various nanoscale systems based on polymers, gold, calcium carbonate, silica, magnetic materials, biological components, or bioinspared have been proposed as controlled release methods for DOX [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”