Nanotechnology Driven Cancer Chemoradiation: Exploiting the Full Potential of Radiotherapy with a Unique Combination of Gold Nanoparticles and Bleomycin
Ocean Han,
Kyle Bromma,
Nicholas Palmerley,
Ariadne T. Bido,
Mesa Monica,
Abdulaziz Alhussan,
Perry L. Howard,
Alexandre G. Brolo,
Wayne Beckham,
Abraham S. Alexander,
Devika B. Chithrani
Affiliations
Ocean Han
Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Kyle Bromma
Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Nicholas Palmerley
Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Ariadne T. Bido
Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Mesa Monica
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Abdulaziz Alhussan
Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Perry L. Howard
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Alexandre G. Brolo
Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Wayne Beckham
Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Abraham S. Alexander
Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Devika B. Chithrani
Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
One of the major issues in current radiotherapy (RT) is the associated normal tissue toxicity. Enhancement of the RT effect with novel radiosensitizers can address this need. In this study, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and bleomycin (BLM) were used as a unique combination of radiosensitizers. GNPs offer a two-fold promise as a delivery vehicle for BLM and as a radiosensitizing agent. In this study, GNPs were functionalized and complexed with BLM using a gold-thiol bond (denoted GNP-BLM). Our results show that there was a 40% and 10% decrease in cell growth with GNP-BLM vs. free BLM for the MIA PaCa-2 and PC-3 cell lines, respectively. Testing the GNP-BLM platform with RT showed an 84% and 13% reduction in cell growth in MIA PaCa-2 cells treated with GNP-BLM and GNPs, respectively. Similar results were seen with PC-3 cells. The efficacy of this approach was verified by mapping DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) as well. Therefore, this proposed incorporation of nanomedicine with RT is promising in achieving a significantly higher therapeutic ratio which is necessary to make a paradigm change to the current clinical approach.
