Biological consequences of nanoscale energy deposition near irradiated heavy atom nanoparticles

Megavoltage X-ray Dose Enhancement with Gold Nanoparticles in Tumor Bearing Mice

One of the applications of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in medicine is radiation dose-enhancing effect. Although there are many simulations, in vitro and in vivo evidence that GNPs can enhance significantly the radiation dose effect of orthovoltage beams. These beams compared with megavoltage (MV) beams, have limited applications in radiotherapy. In order to evaluate GNPs radiosensitization performance with MV beams in-vivo, we used two most clinically used X-ray beams (6 and 18 MV) with the dose of 20 Gy for each mouse. Intratumoral injection of 50 nm GNPs with the concentration of 5 mg ml(-1) was applied to melanoma tumor growing in the left leg of 7 to 8 mice in 4 control and treatment groups of C57BL/6 mice. Albeit, using 10 cm plexiglass jig phantom in the beam path improved the radiation - treatments, the statistical differences between groups were not significant. According to the results, it is concluded that mice can be treated with smaller tumors and higher concentrations of GNPs in MV radiation beams.

Effect of photon beam energy, gold nanoparticle size and concentration on the dose enhancement in radiation therapy

INTRODUCTION

Gold nanoparticles have been used as radiation dose enhancing materials in recent investigations. In the current study, dose enhancement effect of gold nanoparticles on tumor cells was evaluated using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation.

METHODS

We used MCNPX code for MC modeling in the current study. A water phantom and a tumor region with a size of 1×1×1 cm3 loaded with gold nanoparticles were simulated. The macroscopic dose enhancement factor was calculated for gold nanoparticles with sizes of 30, 50, and 100 nm. Also, we simulated different photon beams including mono-energetic beams (50-120 keV), a Cobalt-60 beam, 6 & 18 MV photon beams of a conventional linear accelerator.

RESULTS

We found a dose enhancement factor (DEF) of from 1.4 to 3.7 for monoenergetic kilovoltage beams, while the DEFs for megavoltage beams were negligible and less than 3% for all GNP sizes and concentrations. The optimum energy for higher DEF was found to be the 90 keV monoenergetic beam. The effect of GNP size was not considerable, but the GNP concentration had a substantial impact on achieved DEF in GNP-based radiation therapy.

CONCLUSION

The results were in close agreement with some previous studies considering the effect of photon energy and GNP concentration on observed DEF. Application of GNP-based radiation therapy using kilovoltage beams is recommended.

Nanoparticle location and material dependent dose enhancement in X-ray radiation therapy

Nanoparticles of high atomic number (Z) materials can act as radiosensitizers to enhance radiation dose delivered to tumors. An analytical approach is used to calculate dose enhancements to tumor endothelial cells and their nuclei for a series of nanoparticles (bismuth, gold and platinum) located at different locations relative to nuclei by considering contributions from both photoelectrons and Auger electrons. The ratio of the dose delivered to cells with and without the nanoparticles is known as the dose enhancement factor (DEF). DEFs depend on material composition, size and location of nanoparticles with respect to the cell and the nucleus. Energy of irradiating X-ray beam affects X-ray absorption by nanoparticles and plays an important role in dose enhancements. For diagnostic X-ray sources, bismuth nanoparticles provide higher dose enhancements than gold and platinum nanoparticles for a given nanoparticle size, concentration and location. The highest DEFs are achieved for nanoparticles located closest to the nucleus where energy depositions from short range Auger electrons are maximum. With nanoparticles ranging in diameter between 2-400 nm, the dose enhancement increases with decrease in particle size. The results are useful in finding optimized conditions for nanoparticle enhanced X-ray radiation therapy of cancer.

Detoxifying antitumoral drugs via nanoconjugation: the case of gold nanoparticles and cisplatin

Nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as a potential tool to improve cancer treatment. Among the proposed uses in imaging and therapy, their use as a drug delivery scaffold has been extensively highlighted. However, there are still some controversial points which need a deeper understanding before clinical application can occur. Here the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to detoxify the antitumoral agent cisplatin, linked to a nanoparticle via a pH-sensitive coordination bond for endosomal release, is presented. The NP conjugate design has important effects on pharmacokinetics, conjugate evolution and biodistribution and results in an absence of observed toxicity. Besides, AuNPs present unique opportunities as drug delivery scaffolds due to their size and surface tunability. Here we show that cisplatin-induced toxicity is clearly reduced without affecting the therapeutic benefits in mice models. The NPs not only act as carriers, but also protect the drug from deactivation by plasma proteins until conjugates are internalized in cells and cisplatin is released. Additionally, the possibility to track the drug (Pt) and vehicle (Au) separately as a function of organ and time enables a better understanding of how nanocarriers are processed by the organism.

Gold nanoparticle enhancement of stereotactic radiosurgery for neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in developed countries for people over the age of 50. In this work, the dosimetric feasibility of using gold nanoparticles (AuNP) as radiosensitizers to enhance kilovoltage stereotactic radiosurgery for neovascular AMD is investigated. Microdosimetry calculations at the sub-cellular level were carried out to estimate the radiation dose enhancement to individual nuclei in neovascular AMD endothelial cells (nDEF) due to photon-induced photo-/Auger electrons from x-ray-irradiated AuNP. The nDEF represents the ratio of radiation doses to the endothelial cell nuclei with and without AuNP. The calculations were carried out for a range of feasible AuNP local concentrations using the clinically applicable 100 kVp x-ray beam parameters employed by a commercially available x-ray therapy system. The results revealed nDEF values of 1.30-3.26 for the investigated concentration range of 1-7 mg g(-1), respectively. In comparison, for the same concentration range, nDEF values of 1.32-3.40, 1.31-3.33, 1.29-3.19, 1.28-3.12 were calculated for 80, 90, 110 and 120 kVp x-rays, respectively. Meanwhile, calculations as a function of distance from the AuNP showed that the dose enhancement, for 100 kVp, is markedly confined to the targeted neovascular AMD endothelial cells where AuNP are localized. These findings provide impetus for considering the application of AuNP to enhance therapeutic efficacy during stereotactic radiosurgery for neovascular AMD.

Physical basis and biological mechanisms of gold nanoparticle radiosensitization

The unique properties of nanomaterials, in particular gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have applications for a wide range of biomedical applications. GNPs have been proposed as novel radiosensitizing agents due to their strong photoelectric absorption coefficient. Experimental evidence supporting the application of GNPs as radiosensitizing agents has been provided from extensive in vitro investigation and a relatively limited number of in vivo studies. Whilst these studies provide experimental evidence for the use of GNPs in combination with ionising radiation, there is an apparent disparity between the observed experimental findings and the level of radiosensitization predicted by mass energy absorption and GNP concentration. This review summarises experimental findings and attempts to highlight potential underlying biological mechanisms of response in GNP radiosensitization.

A Monte Carlo study on tissue dose enhancement in brachytherapy: a comparison between gadolinium and gold nanoparticles

The aim of this study was to quantify the dose enhancement by gadolinium and gold nanoparticles in brachytherapy. MCNPX Monte Carlo code was used to simulate four brachytherapy sources: (60)Co, (198)Au, (192)Ir, (169)Yb. To verify the accuracy of our simulations, the obtained values of dose rate constants and radial dose functions were compared with corresponding published values for these sources. To study dose enhancements, a spherical soft tissue phantom with 15 cm in radius was simulated. Gadolinium and gold nanoparticles at 10, 20 and 30 mg/ml concentrations were separately assumed in a 1 × 1 × 1 cm(3) volume simulating tumour. The simulated dose to the tumour with the impurity was compared to the dose without impurity, as a function of radial distance and concentration of the impurity, to determine the enhancement of dose due to the presence of the impurity. Dose enhancements in the tumour obtained in the presence of gadolinium and gold nanoparticles with concentration of 30 mg/ml, were found to be in the range of -0.5-106.1 and 0.4-153.1 % respectively. In addition, at higher radial distances from the source center, higher dose enhancements were observed. GdNPs can be used as a high atomic number material to enhance dose in tumour volume with dose enhancements up to 106.1 % when used in brachytherapy. Regardless considering the clinical limitations of the here-in presented model, for a similar source and concentration of nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles show higher dose enhancement than gadolinium nanoparticles and can have more clinical usefulness as dose enhancer material.

Cell type-dependent uptake, localization, and cytotoxicity of 1.9 nm gold nanoparticles

Background

This follow-up study aims to determine the physical parameters which govern the differential radiosensitization capacity of two tumor cell lines and one immortalized normal cell line to 1.9 nm gold nanoparticles. In addition to comparing the uptake potential, localization, and cytotoxicity of 1.9 nm gold nanoparticles, the current study also draws on comparisons between nanoparticle size and total nanoparticle uptake based on previously published data.

Methods

We quantified gold nanoparticle uptake using atomic emission spectroscopy and imaged intracellular localization by transmission electron microscopy. Cell growth delay and clonogenic assays were used to determine cytotoxicity and radiosensitization potential, respectively. Mechanistic data were obtained by Western blot, flow cytometry, and assays for reactive oxygen species.

Results

Gold nanoparticle uptake was preferentially observed in tumor cells, resulting in an increased expression of cleaved caspase proteins and an accumulation of cells in sub G₁ phase. Despite this, gold nanoparticle cytotoxicity remained low, with immortalized normal cells exhibiting an LD₅₀ concentration approximately 14 times higher than tumor cells. The surviving fraction for gold nanoparticle-treated cells at 3 Gy compared with that of untreated control cells indicated a strong dependence on cell type in respect to radiosensitization potential.

Conclusion

Gold nanoparticles were most avidly endocytosed and localized within cytoplasmic vesicles during the first 6 hours of exposure. The lack of significant cytotoxicity in the absence of radiation, and the generation of gold nanoparticle-induced reactive oxygen species provide a potential mechanism for previously reported radiosensitization at megavoltage energies.

On the role of low-energy electrons in the radiosensitization of DNA by gold nanoparticles

Four different gold nanoparticle (GNP) preparations, including naked GNPs and GNPs coated either with thiolated undecane (S-C(11)H(23)), or with dithiolated diethylenetriaminepentaacetic (DTDTPA) or gadolinium (Gd) DTDTPA chelating agents, were synthesized. The average diameters, for each type of nanoparticle, are 5 nm, 10 and 13 nm, respectively. Dry films of plasmid DNA pGEM-3Zf(-), DNA with bound GNPs and DNA with coated GNPs were bombarded with 60 keV electrons. The yields of single and double strand breaks were measured as a function of exposure by electrophoresis. The binding of just one GNP without coating to DNA containing 3197 base pairs increases single and double strand breaks by a factor of 2.3 while for GNPs coated with S-C(11)H(23) this factor is reduced to 1.6. The GNPs coated with DTDTPA and DTDTPA:Gd in the same ratio with the DNA, produce essentially no increment in damage. These results could be explained by the attenuation by the coatings of the intensity of the low-energy photoelectrons emitted from the GNPs. Thus, coatings of GNPs may considerably attenuate the short-range low-energy electrons emitted from gold, leading to a considerable decrease of radiosensitization. According to our results, the highest radiosensitization should be obtained with GNPs having the shortest possible ligand, directed to the DNA of cancer cells.