Targeted Gold Nanocluster‐Enhanced Radiotherapy of Prostate Cancer

Abstract

For over a hundred years, X‐rays have been a main component of the radiotherapeutic approaches to treat cancer. Yet, to date, no radiosensitizer has been developed to selectively target prostate cancer. Gold has excellent X‐ray absorptivity and is used as a radiotherapy enhancing material. In this work, ultrasmall Au25 nanoclusters (NCs) are developed for selective prostate cancer targeting, radiotherapy enhancement, and rapid clearance from the body. Targeted‐Au25 NCs are rapidly and selectively taken up by prostate cancer in vitro and in vivo and also have fast renal clearance. When combined with X‐ray irradiation of the targeted cancer tissues, radiotherapy is significantly enhanced. The selective targeting and rapid clearance of the nanoclusters may allow reductions in radiation dose, decreasing exposure to healthy tissue and making them highly attractive for clinical translation.

Photo/electrocatalysis and photosensitization using metal nanoclusters for green energy and medical applications

“…The use of X-ray as the light source is most suitable for activating the Au NCs for deep-tissue cancer treatment and biomedical imaging applications, due to its nearly unlimited penetration depth in living tissues and organisms. An interesting review, 99,100 as well as various other recent publications [101][102][103] covering the applications of Au NCs as radiosensitizers are available.…”

Small Molecule-Based Prodrug Targeting Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

“…While many efforts have been focused on the development of PSMA-targeted imaging and radionuclide therapy, there are few examples of small-molecule PSMA-targeted chemotherapeutics [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ] and they all used 2-(3-(1,3-dicarboxypropyl)-ureido) pentanedioic acid (DUPA) to deliver the drugs, which has Ki = 8 nM to PSMA receptor [ 37 ]. We have previously developed a highly negatively charged PSMA ligand that has binding affinity 5-fold higher than the parent PSMA ligand, (S)-2-(3-((S)-5-amino-1-carboxypentyl)ureido) pentanedioic acid (ZJ24, Ki = 0.3 nM) [ 37 , 41 ], and have achieved excellent results with near-infrared agents, PDT agents, and gold nanoparticles with this negatively charged ligand [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. In this study, we have exploited this higher-affinity ligand, PSMA-1 [ 43 ], to selectively deliver the very potent microtubule disruption drug, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE), to prostate cancer cells.…”

Energy‐converting biomaterials for cancer therapy: Category, efficiency, and biosafety

“…As far as EBRT is concerned, the high intensities of radiation beam severely damage the surrounding healthy tissues. Vexatiously, tumor hypoxia could induce the seriously limited therapeutic outcomes (Luo et al, 2019; Sahu, Kwon, & Tae, 2020; Song, Cheng, Chao, Yang, & Liu, 2017; Wu et al, 2019). Herein, various radiation‐driven ROS‐ECBs with strong X‐ray attenuation ability have been discussed to find a reasonable optimization strategy for solving these underlying critical issues.…”