title: Paclitaxel-loaded chitosan oligosaccharide-stabilized gold nanoparticles as novel agents for drug delivery and photoacoustic imaging of cancer cells.
abstract: Polymer nanoparticles have gained significant attention as potential drug carriers for anticancer agents and molecular imaging. Biocompatible gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized using chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) as a reducing and stabilizing agent and were subsequently loaded with paclitaxel (PTX) to demonstrate their use in drug delivery and photoacoustic imaging (PAI) of MDA-MB-231 cells. Paclitaxel-loaded chitosan oligosaccharide-stabilized gold nanoparticles (PTX-COS AuNPs) were spherical in shape with an average particle size of 61.86±3.01nm. PTX-COS AuNPs showed sustained and pH-dependent drug release profiles and exhibited strong cytotoxic effect against MDA-MB-231 cells through the induction of apoptosis with improved reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and altered mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) level. The cellular internalization of PTX-COS AuNPs was proven by fluorescence microscopy as well as flow cytometry. PTX-COS AuNPs were also evaluated as a new class of optical contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging (PAI). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that describes the use of PTX-COS AuNPs as novel agents for drug delivery and PAI of cancer cells. These results exposed the promising potential of PTX-COS AuNPs in the field of drug delivery, molecular imaging, and cancer therapy in the near future.
authors.affiliation: Marine-Integrated Bionics Research Center, Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Panchanathan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manivasagan
authors.affiliation: Marine-Integrated Bionics Research Center, Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Subramaniyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bharathiraja
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Marine-Integrated Biotechnology (BK21 Plus), Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Nhat Quang
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Myong-Ji University, San 38-2, Nam-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 449-728, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: In Gweon
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Marine-Integrated Bionics Research Center, Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Marine-Integrated Biotechnology (BK21 Plus), Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: jungoh@pknu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Junghwan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D048271:Chitosan / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D004355:Drug Stability; D006046:Gold / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides; D006046:Gold; D048271:Chitosan; D017239:Paclitaxel
keywords: Anticancer; Chitosan oligosaccharide; Gold nanoparticles; Paclitaxel; Photoacoustic imaging