Abstract
Surface modifications of radiosensitizing gold nanoparticles (GNP), in particular coating with polyethylene glycol (PEG), may greatly improve their physico-chemical, pharmacological and theranostic properties. However, GNP coating material can seriously alter the efficacy of radiosensitization. We performed a Monte-Carlo simulation of 17 nm GNP PEGylation (8.5 nm layer thickness) effects on secondary radiation spectra at different energies of primary photons (from ∼8 keV to 1 MeV). Our calculations revealed a decrease of the amount of low energy electrons (LEE) that leave PEGylated GNP (from 20% to 40% at the photon energy <500 keV, and from 20% to 0% at energies 500–1000 keV). In all cases, the average energy of the low-energy component of the electron spectrum was smaller for coated GNP. Total energy differed only slightly at photon energy up to ∼200 keV; at bigger energies the normalized total energy of secondary electrons that left the PEG shell significantly (∼20%) exceeded the respective value for electrons that left the uncoated GNP. Thus, rational design of GNP-based radiosensitizers should include critical assessment of physico-chemical properties of the material used for surface modification.
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