Improving Plasmonic Photothermal Therapy of Lung Cancer Cells with Anti-EGFR Targeted Gold Nanorods

Abstract

<jats:p>Lung cancer is a particularly difficult form of cancer to diagnose and treat, due largely to the inaccessibility of tumours and the limited available treatment options. The development of plasmonic gold nanoparticles has led to their potential use in a large range of disciplines, and they have shown promise for applications in this area. The ability to functionalise these nanoparticles to target to specific cancer types, when combined with minimally invasive therapies such as photothermal therapy, could improve long-term outcomes for lung cancer patients. Conventionally, continuous wave lasers are used to generate bulk heating enhanced by gold nanorods that have accumulated in the target region. However, there are potential negative side-effects of heat-induced cell death, such as the risk of damage to healthy tissue due to heat conducting to the surrounding environment, and the development of heat and drug resistance. In this study, the use of pulsed lasers for photothermal therapy was investigated and compared with continuous wave lasers for gold nanorods with a surface plasmon resonance at 850 nm, which were functionalised with anti-EGFR antibodies. Photothermal therapy was performed with both laser systems, on lung cancer cells (A549) in vitro populations incubated with untargeted and targeted nanorods. It was shown that the combination of pulse wave laser illumination of targeted nanoparticles produced a reduction of 93 % ± 13 % in the cell viability compared with control exposures, which demonstrates a possible application for minimally invasive therapies for lung cancer.</jats:p>

NIR-Absorbing Mesoporous Silica-Coated Copper Sulphide Nanostructures for Light-to-Thermal Energy Conversion

“…Although the 808 nm laser wavelength does not correspond to the maximum of the LSPR bands of the core-shell NPs, such a wavelength has been selected for the PT experiments, as it is commonly employed in clinics for various medical procedures [ 57 , 58 ]. Furthermore, the exploitation of the CW laser offers the possibility to irradiate the suspension for a prolonged time, and properly controlling the power density without damaging the nanostructures [ 59 ]. Conversely, high density femtosecond, picosecond or also nanosecond pulsed laser sources can induce detrimental phenomena, such as NCs melting or reshaping [ 60 ].…”

Spiky Gold Nanoparticles for the Photothermal Eradication of Colon Cancer Cells

“…These results agree with previous studies that identified necrosis as the main in vitro cellular response to PTT, leading to cell membrane rupture, DNA damage and protein denaturation. The passive accumulation of GNPs within cancer tissues, mediated by the enhanced permeability and retention effect, together with the possibility to easily functionalize the gold surfaces with targeting ligands [ 71 ], paves the way to providing robust double-targeting therapy approaches. The latter could exploit the recognition ability of conjugated targeting moieties with the possibility to focus the triggering light radiation at the desired site of action, lowering the collateral damage to healthy tissues, thus working towards a clinical need of crucial importance for the treatment of colon cancer.…”

Evaluation of the Targeting and Therapeutic Efficiency of Anti-EGFR Functionalised Nanoparticles in Head and Neck Cancer Cells for Use in NIR-II Optical Window

“…Selected wells of the AuNRs + laser and laser only groups were irradiated using a continuous wave diode laser (B4-852-1500-15C, Sheaumann) at 1064 nm with a power density of 2 W/cm 2 (10 mm beam diameter) for a total of 2 min each. The laser was mounted on a 3-axis motorised translation stage, as previously described [ 49 ], and alternate wells were irradiated to minimise bias of overheating of the next well from neighbouring well. Well temperature was recorded using infrared thermal imaging camera (#TIM 640, Micro-Epsilon Messtechnik GmbH & Co. KG).…”