The effects of single-walled carbon nanotubes on cancer cell migration using a pancreatic tumor model

Abstract

Non-invasive laser immunotherapy (NLIT) is a viable alternative to traditional cancer treatment because it combines the photothermal and immunological effects of non-invasive laser irradiation and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) with an immunoadjuvant, glycated chitosan (GC). This combination forms SWNT-GC, a photosensitive immunoadjuvant, which creates a tumor-specific immunity that targets both the primary tumor and any metastasis. It is known that NLIT induces anti-tumor as well as anti-metastatic immune responses, but its immunological mechanism is not clear. The objective of this study is to clarify the role of SWNT-GC in cancer cell migration. Panc02 (non-metastatic) and Panc02-H7 (metastatic) pancreatic cancer cells were used in two-dimensional elastomer plug assays to observe the restriction of cell migration induced by SWNT, GC, and SWNT-GC individually. To replicate a three-dimensional in vivo study, a similar assay was repeated using embedded collagen lattices. Both the 2D and the 3D studies confirmed previous results indicating that GC inhibits cancer cell motility. The 2D and 3D studies also showed that SWNT-GC inhibited the migration of cancer cells, but a discrepancy was observed regarding the effect of SWNT alone. The 2D model concluded that SWNT inhibited migration while the 3D model determined that SWNT promoted migration. The results of this study will guide future work to determine the mechanism behind NLIT, including how metastases are eradicated and how the tumor specific immunity is created.