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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mater.
Sec. Biomaterials and Bio-Inspired Materials
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmats.2024.1381176
This article is part of the Research Topic Women In Science: Materials 2023 View all 7 articles

A simple approach for CTAB-free and biofunctionalized gold nanorods to construct photothermal active nanomedicine for potential in vivo applications in cancer cells and scar treatment

Provisionally accepted
Alice Foti Alice Foti Benjamin Clépoint Benjamin Clépoint Aurore Fraix Aurore Fraix Cristina Satriano Cristina Satriano *
  • University of Catania, Catania, Sicily, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a commonly used surfactant in the synthesis of gold nanorods (AuNR), presents cytotoxicity challenges in biological applications, limiting their biomedical applicability, particularly in cancer therapy. This study introduces a straightforward methodology for the effective removal of CTAB by utilizing a combination of ligand replacement and surface bioconjugation processes that efficiently eliminates CTAB and simultaneously functionalizes the nanorods with hyaluronic acid (HA), to enhance biocompatibility and introduce targeting capabilities towards cancer cells. The surface chemistry modification of CTAB-capped and CTAB-free AuNR, before and after the functionalization with HA, was scrutinized by UV-visible, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), attenuated total reflectance (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-Ray Photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies. The surface charge, size and morphology of the different plasmonic nanoparticles were characterized by zeta potential, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photothermal response was assessed by laser irradiation and thermocamera measurements. Proof-of-work in vitro cellular experiments of cytotoxicity and oxidative stress were carried out on prostate cancer cells, PC-3, overexpressing the CD44 cell surface receptor specifically recognized by HA, in the comparison with the CD44-negative murine fibroblasts (3T3 cell line) by MTT and MitoSOX assays, respectively. The cellular uptake and the organelle alteration were scrutinized by confocal laser scanning microscopy (LSM), while the perturbative effects on cell migration were studied by optical microscopy (wound scratch assay). The study's findings offer a promising pathway to tune the gold nanorods properties in cancer treatment by reducing cytotoxicity and enhancing targeted therapeutic efficacy as well as in the control of scar tissue formation.

    Keywords: Nanomedicine, Plasmonic nanoparticles, Prostate cancer cells, Fibroblasts, Wound scratch, Hyaluronic Acid, photothermal therapy

    Received: 03 Feb 2024; Accepted: 28 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Foti, Clépoint, Fraix and Satriano. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Cristina Satriano, University of Catania, Catania, 95131, Sicily, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.