Mesenchymal Stem Cells Aggregate and Deliver Gold Nanoparticles to Tumors for Photothermal Therapy

  • Seokyung Kang
  • , Suk Ho Bhang
  • , Sekyu Hwang
  • , Jeong Kee Yoon
  • , Jaejung Song
  • , Hyeon Ki Jang
  • , Sungjee Kim
  • , Byung Soo Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been extensively studied for photothermal cancer therapy because AuNPs can generate heat upon near-infrared irradiation. However, improving their tumor-targeting efficiency and optimizing the nanoparticle size for maximizing the photothermal effect remain challenging. We demonstrate that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can aggregate pH-sensitive gold nanoparticles (PSAuNPs) in mildly acidic endosomes, target tumors, and be used for photothermal therapy. These aggregated structures had a higher cellular retention in comparison to pH-insensitive, control AuNPs (cAuNPs), which is important for the cell-based delivery process. PSAuNP-laden MSCs (MSC-PSAuNPs) injected intravenously to tumor-bearing mice show a 37-fold higher tumor-targeting efficiency (5.6% of the injected dose) and 8.3°C higher heat generation compared to injections of cAuNPs after irradiation, which results in a significantly enhanced anticancer effect.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9678-9690
Number of pages13
JournalACS Nano
Volume9
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 27 Oct 2015

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

  • gold nanoparticles
  • mesenchymal stem cells
  • pH-sensitive
  • photothermal therapy
  • tumor tropism

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