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In Vivo Evaluation of Multifunctional Gold Nanorods for Boron Neutron Capture and Photothermal Therapies

2021; American Chemical Society; Volume: 13; Issue: 42 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/acsami.0c17575

1944-8252

Krishna R. Pulagam, Malou Henriksen‐Lacey, Kepa B. Uribe, Carlos Renero‐Lecuna, Jatish Kumar, Alexandra Charalampopoulou, Angelica Facoetti, Nicoletta Protti, Vanessa Gómez‐Vallejo, Zuriñe Baz, Vished Kumar, Ana Sánchez‐Iglesias, S. Altieri, Unai Cossío, Desiré Di Silvio, Ángel M. Martínez-Villacorta, Ane Ruiz‐de‐Angulo, Luka Rejc, Luis M. Liz‐Marzán, Jordi Llop,

Boron and Carbon Nanomaterials Research

The incidence and mortality of cancer demand more innovative approaches and combination therapies to increase treatment efficacy and decrease off-target side effects. We describe a boron-rich nanoparticle composite with potential applications in both boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and photothermal therapy (PTT). Our strategy is based on gold nanorods (AuNRs) stabilized with polyethylene glycol and functionalized with the water-soluble complex cobalt bis(dicarbollide) ([3,3'-Co(1,2-C2B9H11)2]-), commonly known as COSAN. Radiolabeling with the positron emitter copper-64 (64Cu) enabled in vivo tracking using positron emission tomography imaging. 64Cu-labeled multifunctionalized AuNRs proved to be radiochemically stable and capable of being accumulated in the tumor after intravenous administration in a mouse xenograft model of gastrointestinal cancer. The resulting multifunctional AuNRs showed high biocompatibility and the capacity to induce local heating under external stimulation and trigger cell death in heterogeneous cancer spheroids as well as the capacity to decrease cell viability under neutron irradiation in cancer cells. These results position our nanoconjugates as suitable candidates for combined BNCT/PTT therapies.