International Journal of Nanomedicine (Apr 2022)
Folic Acid and Chitosan-Functionalized Gold Nanorods and Triangular Silver Nanoplates for the Delivery of Anticancer Agents
Abstract
You Jeong Lee, Yeon-Jeong Kim, Youmie Park College of Pharmacy and Inje Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, Inje University, Gimhae, Gyeongnam, 50834, Republic of KoreaCorrespondence: Youmie Park, Tel +82-55-320-3884, Fax +82-55-320-3940, Email [email protected]: Advances in the field of nanotechnology have shed light on the applications of nanoparticles for cancer treatment.Methods: Folic acid and chitosan-functionalized gold nanorods (FACS-R) and triangular silver nanoplates (FACS-T) were synthesized and their properties were elucidated by UV-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution X-ray diffraction.Results: The average size of the FACS-R was determined to be a transverse length of 13.1 ± 1.8 nm and a longitudinal length of 47.2 ± 8.9 nm with an aspect ratio of 3.6. The average size of FACS-T was measured to be 31.8 ± 7.7 nm. Colloidal solutions of FACS-R and FACS-T were stable on the shelf at ambient temperature for 14 days in the dark. Anticancer agents were encapsulated in FACS-R and FACS-T. FACS-T showed a higher encapsulation efficiency with docetaxel, paclitaxel and diallyl disulfide than FACS-R. The cell viability on human gastric adenocarcinoma cells (AGS), human epithelial cervix adenocarcinoma cells (HeLa) and human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT-29) after treatment with anticancer agent-encapsulated FACS-R and FACS-T was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Interestingly, paclitaxel-encapsulated FACS-R and FACS-T showed the highest percentages of early and late apoptosis on HeLa cells. A cell cycle analysis demonstrated increased G2/M arrest on HeLa cells with docetaxel and paclitaxel-encapsulated FACS-R and FACS-T. The FACS-T induced more G2/M arrest on HeLa cells than the FACS-R. To assess applications in near-infrared photothermal therapy (PTT), the cell viability on HeLa cells with the anticancer agent-encapsulated FACS-R and FACS-T was assessed in the presence or absence of 808 nm laser irradiation. The results showed that 808 nm laser irradiation significantly decreased cell viability.Conclusion: Collectively, the triangular silver nanoplates were more effective than the gold nanorods for PTT. We believe that as-prepared nanoparticles have remarkable features and will become promising future nanomedicine.Keywords: folic acid, chitosan, triangular silver nanoplates, gold nanorods, anticancer activity, photothermal therapy, HeLa cells
