Shape-Driven Response of Gold Nanoparticles to X-rays

first_pageDownload PDFsettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle Shape-Driven Response of Gold Nanoparticles to X-rays by Simona Tarantino 1ORCID,Caterina Capomolla 2,Alessandra Carlà 2,Livia Giotta 3ORCID,Mariafrancesca Cascione 1,4ORCID,Chiara Ingrosso 5,Edoardo Scarpa 6,7ORCID,Loris Rizzello 6,7ORCID,Anna Paola Caricato 1,8ORCID,Rosaria Rinaldi 1,4,*ORCID andValeria De Matteis 1,4,*ORCID 1 Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi”, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy 2 Oncological Center, “Vito Fazzi” Hospital of Lecce, Piazza Filippo Muratore 1, 73100 Lecce, Italy 3 Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy 4 Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM), National Research Council (CNR), Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy 5 CNR-IPCF S.S. Bari, c/o Department of Chemistry, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy 6 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy 7 The National Institute of Molecular Genetics (INGM), 20133 Milan, Italy 8 National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Section of Lecce, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy * Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. Nanomaterials 2023, 13(19), 2719; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13192719 Submission received: 31 August 2023 / Revised: 26 September 2023 / Accepted: 4 October 2023 / Published: 7 October 2023 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Applications of Gold Nanoparticles: 2nd Edition) Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract Radiotherapy (RT) involves delivering X-ray beams to the tumor site to trigger DNA damage. In this approach, it is fundamental to preserve healthy cells and to confine the X-ray beam only to the malignant cells. The integration of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the X-ray methodology could be considered a powerful tool to improve the efficacy of RT. Indeed, AuNPs have proven to be excellent allies in contrasting tumor pathology upon RT due to their high photoelectric absorption coefficient and unique physiochemical properties. However, an analysis of their physical and morphological reaction to X-ray exposure is necessary to fully understand the AuNPs’ behavior upon irradiation before treating the cells, since there are currently no studies on the evaluation of potential NP morphological changes upon specific irradiations. In this work, we synthesized two differently shaped AuNPs adopting two different techniques to achieve either spherical or star-shaped AuNPs. The spherical AuNPs were obtained with the Turkevich–Frens method, while the star-shaped AuNPs (AuNSs) involved a seed-mediated approach. We then characterized all AuNPs with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Uv-Vis spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), zeta potential and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The next step involved the treatment of AuNPs with two different doses of X-radiation commonly used in RT, namely 1.8 Gy and 2 Gy, respectively. Following the X-rays’ exposure, the AuNPs were further characterized to investigate their possible physicochemical and morphological alterations induced with the X-rays. We found that AuNPs do not undergo any alteration, concluding that they can be safely used in RT treatments. Lastly, the actin rearrangements of THP-1 monocytes treated with AuNPs were also assessed in terms of coherency. This is a key proof to evaluate the possible activation of an immune response, which still represents a big limitation for the clinical translation of NPs