Interaction of gold cationic nanoparticles with blood cells and their distribution in the model organism

ŠRÁMEK, Michal

Cationic gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are attractive candidates for drug delivery, biomedical imaging and targeted anti-cancer therapy. Due to their unique physical-chemical properties, they have great potential, especially for so-called targeted photothermal cancer therapy. Nanoparticle properties such as size, shape and surface charge play a key role in the internalization process and different types of NPs can enter cells by various pathways. It has been reported, that specific cationic gold nanorods (GNRs) preparations are taken up by both normal and cancer cells in large amounts. The nanoparticles were shown to accumulate inside vesicular structures. Prior to the start with an application of cationic GNRs in biomedicine for different kind of purposes (such as photothermal therapy, targeted drug/gene delivery carriers, fluorescence probes, pregnancy test etc.), it is necessary at first to determine their biological safety and organism's response in general. In our laboratory, we are focused mainly on the application of GNRs in photothermal therapy. That consists of cationic GNRs accumulated in tumour tissue, where they transform light into heat upon irradiation by near-infrared (NIR) light, thereby thermally damaging nearby cells. During the study, it was shown by microscopic examination of the blood that after incubation of blood with cationic GNRs in vitro, the interaction of GNRs with white blood cells and platelets was observed. Further, using histology and fluorescence microscopy it was shown that after in vivo application the cationic GNRs are mostly accumulated in mouse spleen. The obtained data contributed to an understanding of cationic GNRs distribution and toxicity at the level of the cell and organism and were published as a part of the complex study in Biomaterials journal.

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