Targeted Phytochemical-Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles in Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Cancer is one of the most aggressive diseases whose prognosis remains bleak with current therapies. The tumor microenvironment plays a significant role in the proliferation and invasion of tumor cells. In the complex tumor microenvironment, there are several types of immune-suppressing infiltrating cells, which surround the tumor and promote tumor growth and metastasis. Prostate and pancreatic cancers display tumor-infiltrating immune cells, which differentiate into cells that promote each step of the metastatic cascade and therefore are considered as novel targets for therapy. Even though several chemotherapeutic drugs are in current use for treating these cancers, tumor microenvironment targeting immunotherapeutic drugs, with minimum systemic toxic effects, are needed to save human lives from various forms of cancers. We hypothesize a safe and effective nanoinitiated drug delivery system—‘Phytochemical-conjugated gold nanoparticles,’ which can inhibit the growth and proliferation of tumor cells without affecting normal cells and at the same time boost the capability of immune system to fight cancer. There are unprecedented opportunities to advance the treatment of cancer using nanotechnology. Among the vast majority of nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles show unique properties, such as large surface-to-volume ratio, small size in the nanorealm, tunable surface chemistry, and capable of drug encapsulation. The controlled and targeted drug delivery approach makes nanoparticles very selective and effective toward cancer growth inhibition. In this chapter, we discuss the synthesis and characterization of clove phytochemical-conjugated gold nanoparticles (CP-AuNPs) and their anticancer activity against prostate (PC-3) and pancreatic cancer (PANC-1) cell lines. The synthesis and full characterization of AuNPs were confirmed by various techniques including UV–Visible spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light-scattering (DLS) technique. We confirmed that AuNP treatment resulted in decreased cancer cell viability and enhancement in cellular internalization. These nanoparticles will navigate better to the complex tumor sites. This ‘Green Nanotechnology’ approach will be potentially effective compared to the current conventional cancer therapies.