Biocompatible Drug-Antibody Conjugated Au-ZnTe Core-Shell Nanoparticles for Biosafety and Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery Applications

Abstract

Biocompatible Drug-Antibody Conjugated Au-ZnTe Core-Shell Nanoparticles for Biosafety and Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery Applications There is a growing demand for the development of innovative nano-drug delivery systems that can both target and improve cancer therapies more effectively than conventional chemotherapy. Initially the biosafety of these nanoparticles must be evaluated as a compulsory component in supporting drug development research. Novel cysteine capped Au-ZnTe core-shell nanoparticles have been structurally designed using a one-pot solution based route to support surface conjugation with 5-FU and human epidermal growth factor antibody to facilitate targeted drug delivery within the domain of cancer therapeutics. The biosafety and biocompatibility of these nanoparticles was established on the cellular and whole-animal levels using in vitro and in vivo toxicity techniques. More specifically, the Au-ZnTe nanoparticles displayed no cytotoxicity effects against normal human colon, mammary epithelial and cancer cells of breast, prostate and colon origin. Moreover, under certain conditions the particles expressed cytokines in low concentrations and induced a cytotoxic response when exposed to human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. TEM and optical measurements were performed to confirm the surface conjugation of 5-FU and EGF to Au-ZnTe nanoparticles. The in vitro anti-cancer therapeutic efficacy study was performed using the MTT cytotoxicity assay on breast cancer cells. The cytotoxicity studies have shown that all components in the 5-FU-EGF-Au-ZnTe nanoparticle formulation work synergistically to attack MCF7 cancer cells displaying 19.14% increased efficacy than 5-FU at equivalent concentrations. Future work will involve pharmacokinetic and molecular modelling studies of the 5-FU-EGFAu- ZnTe nanoparticle formulation to provide further insight of its cytotoxic and drug interaction properties. This study has generated valuable new knowledge that will help scientists within the field of biotechnology, nanomedicine, biochemistry and materials chemistry, to develop and optimise strategies for more efficient therapeutic application of such materials.