Mechanisms of cell penetration and cytotoxicity of ultrasmall Au nanoparticles conjugated to doxorubicin and/or targeting peptides

摘要

The goals of this work were to determine whether conjugation of any of four selected peptides to Au nanoparticles improved their delivery to B16 melanoma in vitro and in vivo. In in vitro cytotoxicity assays, peptides and conjugates were endocytosed but did not escape from endosomes. None of the peptides showed any cytotoxicity, with or without conjugation to the nanoparticles. The combination of peptides and doxorubicin did not improve upon the cytotoxicity of gold-doxorubicin alone. We then tested targeting in vivo using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to quantify the concentration of Au in the organs of B16 tumor-bearing mice 4,24, and 72 h after intravenous Au nanoparticle injection. These experiments showed that in some cases, peptide conjugation improved upon the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. A peptide based upon the myxoma virus and the cyclic RGD peptide were both effective at tumor targeting; myxoma was more effective with un-PEGylated particles, and cRGD with PEGylated particles. The FREG and melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) peptides did not improve targeting. These results suggest that these peptides may improve delivery of Au particles to tumors, but also may prevent entry of particles into cell nuclei.