Improving cytotoxicity against cancer cells by chemo-photodynamic combined modalities using silver-graphene quantum dots nanocomposites

International Journal of Nanomedicine
Khaled HabibaGerardo Morell

Abstract

The combination of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer therapy due to its synergistic effects. In this work, PEGylated silver nanoparticles decorated with graphene quantum dots (Ag-GQDs) were tested as a platform to deliver a chemotherapy drug and a photosensitizer, simultaneously, in chemo-photodynamic therapy against HeLa and DU145 cancer cells in vitro. Ag-GQDs have displayed high efficiency in delivering doxorubicin as a model chemotherapy drug to both cancer cells. The Ag-GQDs exhibited a strong antitumor activity by inducing apoptosis in cancer cells without affecting the viability of normal cells. Moreover, the Ag-GQDs exhibited a cytotoxic effect due to the generation of the reactive singlet oxygen upon 425 nm irradiation, indicating their applicability in photodynamic therapy. In comparison with chemo or photodynamic treatment alone, the combined treatment of Ag-GQDs conjugated with doxorubicin under irradiation with a 425 nm lamp significantly increased the death in DU145 and HeLa. This study suggests Ag-GQDs as a multifunctional and efficient therapeutic system for chemo-photodynamic modalities in cancer therapy.

Citations

Oct 18, 2016·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Jyun-Wei Chen, Cheng-Chung Chang
Nov 24, 2016·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Karunya Albert, Hsin-Yun Hsu
Apr 5, 2018·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Chen-Yang ZhaoZhong-Min Tian
May 14, 2018·Journal of Materials Chemistry. B, Materials for Biology and Medicine·Aliaksandra Rakovich, Tatsiana Rakovich
Mar 1, 2019·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Safia NazJinghua Chen
Jul 4, 2019·ACS Sensors·Meixiu LiJingquan Liu

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
transmission electron microscopy
dynamic light scattering
Assay
irradiating
fluorescence microscopy

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