Photodynamic Treatment of Human Breast and Prostate Cancer Cells Using Rose Bengal-Encapsulated Nanoparticles

Mir Muhammad Nasir Uddin; Alina Bekmukhametova; Anu Antony; Shital K. Barman; Jessica Houang; Ming J. Wu; James Hook; Laurel George; Richard Wuhrer; Damia Mawad; Daniel Ta; Antonio Lauto

doi:10.3390/molecules28196901

Molecules (Oct 2023)

Photodynamic Treatment of Human Breast and Prostate Cancer Cells Using Rose Bengal-Encapsulated Nanoparticles

Mir Muhammad Nasir Uddin,
Alina Bekmukhametova,
Anu Antony,
Shital K. Barman,
Jessica Houang,
Ming J. Wu,
James Hook,
Laurel George,
Richard Wuhrer,
Damia Mawad,
Daniel Ta,
Antonio Lauto

Affiliations

Mir Muhammad Nasir Uddin: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Alina Bekmukhametova: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Anu Antony: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Shital K. Barman: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Jessica Houang: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Ming J. Wu: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
James Hook: School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Laurel George: Advanced Materials Characterisation Facility, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Richard Wuhrer: Advanced Materials Characterisation Facility, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Damia Mawad: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia
Daniel Ta: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
Antonio Lauto: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28196901
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 28, no. 19
p. 6901

Abstract

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Cancer, a prominent cause of death, presents treatment challenges, including high dosage requirements, drug resistance, poor tumour penetration and systemic toxicity in traditional chemotherapy. Photodynamic therapy, using photosensitizers like rose bengal (RB) with a green laser, shows promise against breast cancer cells in vitro. However, the hydrophilic RB struggles to efficiently penetrate the tumour site due to the unique clinical microenvironment, aggregating around rather than entering cancer cells. In this study, we have synthesized and characterized RB-encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles with a peak particle size of ~200 nm. These nanoparticles are readily internalized by cells and, in combination with a green laser (λ = 532 nm) killed 94–98% of cultured human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and prostate cancer cells (PC3) at a low dosage (25 μg/mL RB-nanoparticles, fluence ~126 J/cm2, and irradiance ~0.21 W/cm2). Furthermore, these nanoparticles are not toxic to cultured human normal breast cells (MCF10A), which opens an avenue for translational applications.

Published in Molecules

ISSN: 1420-3049 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Organic chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules

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