International Journal of Nanomedicine (Jul 2023)
Methodological and Cellular Factors Affecting the Magnitude of Breast Cancer and Normal Cell Radiosensitization Using Gold Nanoparticles
Abstract
Marika Musielak,1– 3 Agnieszka Boś-Liedke,4 Oliwia Piwocka,1– 3 Katarzyna Kowalska,5 Roksana Markiewicz,6 Aleksandra Lorenz,7 Paweł Bakun,2,8 Wiktoria Suchorska1,3 1Department of Electroradiology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland; 2Doctoral School, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland; 3Radiobiology Laboratory, Department of Medical Physics, Greater Poland Cancer Centre, Poznan, Poland; 4Department of Macromolecular Physics, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland; 5Department of Histology and Embryology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland; 6NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland; 7Faculty of Agronomy, Horticulture and Bioengineering, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland; 8Chair and Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, PolandCorrespondence: Marika Musielak, Department of Electroradiology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Garbary 15, Poznan, 61-866, Poland, Tel +48505372 290, Email [email protected]: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant tumor in women, which most often originates from the epithelial tissue of the breast gland. One of the most recommended kinds of treatment is radiotherapy (RT), but irradiation (IR) can affect not only the cancer tumor but also the healthy tissue around it. Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) were proposed as a radiosensitizing agent for RT which would allow for lower radiation doses, reducing the negative radiation effects on healthy tissues. The main objective of the study is to assess the dependence on the radiosensitivity of BC (MDA-MB-231) and normal mammary gland epithelial cells (MCF12A) to ionizing radiation, caused by functionalized AuNPs under diverse conditions.Methods: The viability, uptake, reactive oxygen species induction, and mitochondrial membrane potential in cells were analyzed applying a time and concentration-dependent manner. After different incubation times with AuNPs, cells were exposed to 2 Gy. The determination of radiation effect in combination with AuNPs was investigated using the clonogenic assay, p53, and γH2AX level, as well as, Annexin V staining.Results: Our results highlighted the strong need for assessing the experimental conditions’ optimization before the AuNPs will be implemented with IR. Moreover, results indicated that AuNPs did not act universally in cells.Conclusion: AuNPs could be a promising tool as a radiotherapy sensitizing agent, but it should be specified and deeply investigated under what conditions it will be applied taking into consideration not only AuNPs modifications but also the model and experimental conditions.Keywords: oncology, nanotechnology, nanoparticles, radiotherapy, breast cancer
