title: Tumor-tropic endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) loaded with near-infrared sensitive Au nanoparticles: A "cellular stove" approach to the photoablation of melanoma.
abstract: In the photothermal treatments (PTs) of tumor, the localization of a high number of near-infrared (NIR) absorbing gold nanoparticles in the tumor mass is still a challenging issue. Here, we propose a promising strategy to deliver therapeutic chitosan-coated gold nanoparticles to tumor cells as hidden cargo of Endothelial Colony Forming Cells (ECFCs) endowed with an innate tumor-tropism. Remarkably, ECFC gold enrichement doesn't affect cell viability and preserves the endothelial lineage characteristics such as capillary morphogenesis and cell migration. We demonstrate that heavily Au-doped ECFCs are able to efficiently warm up the tumor environment, and kill the cancer cells via hyperthermic heating both in vitro as well as in vivo. Thus, we show an excellent thermotransductive property of gold enriched ECFCs and their capability to kill melanoma cells at moderate NIR light intensities.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Complex Systems, National Research Council, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Margheri
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics "Enrico Fermi", University of Pisa, Italy.|Present address: Plasmatech, Department of Physics "Enrico Fermi", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zoppi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics "Nello Carrara", National Research Council, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Olmi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Complex Systems, National Research Council, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trigari
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Traversi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Severi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bani
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bianchini
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Torre
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Margheri
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chillà
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biagioni
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.|Excellence Center for Research, Transfer and High Education 'Study at Molecular and Clinical Level of Chronic, Inflammatory, Degenerative and Neoplastic Disorders for the Development on Novel Therapies', Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Lido
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Calorini
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laurenzana
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fibbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.|Excellence Center for Research, Transfer and High Education 'Study at Molecular and Clinical Level of Chronic, Inflammatory, Degenerative and Neoplastic Disorders for the Development on Novel Therapies', Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Rosso
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D002470:Cell Survival; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007477:Ions; D008027:Light; D008545:Melanoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D010777:Photochemistry; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000378:metabolism; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
chemical_list: C527276:CXCR4 protein, human; D003102:Colloids; D007477:Ions; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4; D006046:Gold; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4); endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs); gold nanoparticles; melanoma; tumor thermoablation