Synthesis, In Vitro Testing, and Biodistribution of Surfactant-Free Radioactive Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Radiochemistry
• Oncology

Background:

• Effective cancer treatments with simple manufacturing and transport are crucial.
• Current therapies often face challenges in accessibility and production complexity.
• There is a need for innovative nanoparticle-based cancer therapeutics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a surfactant-free synthesis method for radioactive Gold-198 nanoparticles (198AuNPs).
• To characterize the size and properties of the synthesized nanoparticles.
• To evaluate the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of 198AuNPs for cancer treatment.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of radioactive Gold-198 nanoparticles (198AuNPs) using citrate reduction stabilized with PEG.
• Characterization of nanoparticle size using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS).
• In vitro cytotoxicity assays on cancer cell lines and in vivo studies in tumor-bearing models.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized surfactant-free 198AuNPs with controlled sizes (average 8.7 nm for 198AuNPs, 32.6 nm for PEG-198AuNPs).
• Non-radioactive gold nanoparticles showed an average size of 11.0 nm via TEM.
• In vitro tests demonstrated no cytotoxic effects, while in vivo studies revealed significant tumor uptake and cancer growth arrest.

Conclusions:

• The developed method provides an effective route for producing radioactive 198AuNPs without surfactants.
• These nanoparticles exhibit favorable characteristics for targeted cancer therapy.
• The findings support the potential of 198AuNPs as a viable and transportable cancer treatment modality.