Gold nanoparticles are promising candidates as vehicles for drug delivery systems and could be developed into effective anticancer treatments. Gold nanorods (GNRs) have suitable optical and thermal properties, which allows them to be used in techniques such as photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging.
GNRs with an absorbance peak near 650 nm were synthesized via a seed-mediated method and coated with cross-linked BSA as a stabilizer. New cancer treatment approaches involve the use of several cytostatics to target cancer cells. Therefore, in our work a mixture of cytostatics doxorubicin and dacarbazine were loaded onto the GNRs. Тhe effectiveness of drug loading was determined using UV spectroscopy. TEM and dynamic light scattering were used to verify the structural integrity of the BSA-coated GNRs.
Cytocompatibility of bare and BSA-coated gold nanorods with different ratios of doxorubicin and dacarbazine was assessed by MTT assay, a common method to evaluate the biocompatibility of nanomaterials. 3D tumor spheroids were used to assess the drug gradient uptake and the effect of localized photothermia mediated by GNRs coated with cross-linked BSA alone or in combination with doxorubicin. Тhe results of experiments using GNRs and doxorubicin on irradiated cells and on cells that were not irradiated showed significant differences.
The work was carried out with the financial support of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation ‘Molecular design and creation of drugs based on conjugates of carbon nanostructures, vectors of targeted delivery and cytotoxic agents for inactivation of stem tumour cells and components of the tumour microenvironment’, No. EGISU:1022040700957-7-3.2.21;3.1.3.
Research was performed using the equipment of the Resource Centre ‘GeoModel’, Interdisciplinary Resource Centre for Nanotechnology and Centre for Chemical Analysis and Materials Research of the Research Park of Saint Petersburg State University