Plasmonic MXene-based nanocomposites exhibiting photothermal therapeutic effects with lower acute toxicity than pure MXene

Abstract

Essraa A Hussein,1 Moustafa M Zagho,1 Balsam R Rizeq,2,3 Nadin N Younes,4 Gianfranco Pintus,3,4 Khaled A Mahmoud,5 Gheyath K Nasrallah,3,4 Ahmed A Elzatahry11Materials Science and Technology Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 2Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 3Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 4Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Women’s Science Building, Doha, Qatar; 5Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, QatarPurpose: Here, we fabricated two plasmonic 2D Ti3C2Tx-based nanocomposites (Au/MXene and Au/Fe3O4/MXene) with similarly high anti-cancer photothermal therapy (PTT) capabilities, but with less in vivo toxicity than a pure MXene.Methods: Au/MXene was synthesized by in situ reduction of tetrachloroauric acid using NaBH4 on Ti3C2Tx flakes. For targeted PTT, magnetic Au/Fe3O4/MXene was synthesized via a reaction between freshly prepared magnetite Fe3O4 NPs and MXene solution, followed by in situ integration of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs).Results: Morphological characterization by XRD, SEM, and TEM revealed the successful synthesis of Au/MXene and Au/Fe3O4/MXene. Both new composites exhibited a significant in vitro dose-dependent PTT effect against human breast cancer cells MCF7. Interestingly, in vivo acute toxicity assays using zebrafish embryos indicated that Au/MXene and Au/Fe3O4/MXene had less embryonic mortality (LC50 ≫ 1000 μg/mL) than pure MXene (LC50=257.46 μg/mL).Conclusion: Our new Au/MXene and Au/Fe3O4/MXene nanocomposites could be safer and more suitable than the pure MXene for biomedical applications, especially when targeted PTT is warranted.Keywords: MXene, gold, magnetite, MCF7, photothermal therapy, acute toxicity

Keywords

• MXene • gold • magnetite • MCF7 • photothermal therapy • acute toxicity