Conjugation of Hypericin to Gold Nanoparticles for Enhancement of Photodynamic Therapy in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

Breast cancer, among the different types of cancer, is one of the most diagnosed cancers and the leading cause of mortalities amongst women. Factors, including genetic and epigenetic alterations in tumors, make it resistant to therapies, which results in treatment failures and/or recurrence. Further...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pharmaceutics 2022-10, Vol.14 (10), p.2212
Main Authors: Mokoena, Dimakatso, George, Blassan P, Abrahamse, Heidi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Breast cancer
Cancer
Cancer therapies
cell death
Chemical properties
Dosage and administration
Drug delivery systems
Drug therapy
Drugs
Gold
Health aspects
Hypericin
Localization
Microscopy
Nanomaterials
nanoparticle conjugation
Nanoparticles
Optical properties
Pharmaceutical research
Photochemotherapy
Photodynamic therapy
physical adsorption
Quality of life
Vehicles
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Summary:Breast cancer, among the different types of cancer, is one of the most diagnosed cancers and the leading cause of mortalities amongst women. Factors, including genetic and epigenetic alterations in tumors, make it resistant to therapies, which results in treatment failures and/or recurrence. Furthermore, the existing therapies have many unfavorable side effects leading to poor prognosis and reduced therapeutic outcomes. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one of the most effective cancer therapies with increased selectivity and specificity toward cancer cells. As a result, the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) further improves the effectiveness of PDT by increasing the drug loading capacity into the cells. In this study, hypericin (Hyp) photosensitizer (PS) was adsorbed on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by sonication to achieve physical adsorption of the PS to AuNP. The resulting compound was characterized by FTIR, Zeta potential, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and TEM. The compound was used for the PDT treatment of MCF-7 human breast cancer in vitro. Cellular responses at 12 h post-PDT at 10 J/cm2 were observed. Cellular morphology, LDH membrane integrity, ATP luminescence assay, and Annexin V/PI staining were performed. The results demonstrated typical cell death morphological features while the biochemical responses indicated increased LDH and decreased ATP levels. In conclusion, this study presents an insight into the application of advanced PDT in breast cancer cells by inducing cancer cell death in vitro via apoptosis.
ISSN:1999-4923
1999-4923
DOI:10.3390/pharmaceutics14102212