Targeted Gold Nanoparticles for Molecular CT Imaging of Breast Cancer:  An In-Vitro Study

Navid  Kheradmand; Omid  Talaee; Fatemeh  Tabatabaee; Vahideh  Alvandi; Emad  Khoshdel; Parizad  Ghadimi; Mustafa  Çaglar

doi:10.18502/fbt.v12i3.19210

Navid Kheradmand Department of Health Physics, Graduate School of Health Sciences, İstanbul Medipol University, İstanbul, Türkiye
Omid Talaee Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shiraz, Iran
Fatemeh Tabatabaee Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Vahideh Alvandi Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
Emad Khoshdel Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Parizad Ghadimi Department of Medical Physics and Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran
Mustafa Çaglar Department of Health Physics, Graduate School of Health Sciences, İstanbul Medipol University, İstanbul, Türkiye

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/fbt.v12i3.19210

Keywords: Au Nanoparticles; Polyethylene Glycol; Molecular Imaging; Computed Tomography; Breast Cancer Cells.

Abstract

Purpose: The incorporation of Nanoparticles (NPs) in Computed Tomography (CT) imaging significantly enhances the contrast, clarity, and sensitivity of CT scans, leading to a substantial improvement in the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic information obtained from the images. The objective of the current research was to investigate the application of gold (Au) NPs in enhancing the imaging capabilities of Breast Cancer (BC) cells.

Materials and Methods: Au NPs were synthesized by loading Trastuzumab (TZ) on PEGylated Au NPs. Firstly, Au NPs were produced and coated with PEG-SH to form PEG-Au NPs. Next, TZ was coupled with OPSS-PEG-SVA to enable its attachment to the PEG-Au NPs. The resulting NPs were characterized for their structure, size, and morphology using standard analytical techniques. To assess the potential of the developed NPs for CT scan imaging of BC cells, SKBr-3 cells were treated with Au NPs and TZ-PEG-Au NPs. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of the NPs was evaluated with the MTT technique.

Results: The SEM and TEM analyses revealed that the synthesized NPs exhibited a spherical shape and displayed a relatively uniform size distribution (approximately 45 nm). The results showed that the developed Au NPs have acceptable biocompatibility and superior X-ray attenuation properties compared to a commonly used contrast agent.

Conclusion: Based on our results, it can be concluded that the proposed TZ- Polyethylene Glycol-Au NPs are suitable for CT imaging of BC cells.