bc200386m_si_001.pdf (161.87 kB)
Nuclear Targeted Silver Nanospheres Perturb the Cancer Cell Cycle Differently than Those of Nanogold
journal contribution
posted on 2011-11-16, 00:00 authored by Lauren
A. Austin, Bin Kang, Chun-Wan Yen, Mostafa A. El-SayedPlasmonic nanoparticle research has become increasingly
active
due to potential uses in biomedical applications. However, little
is known about the intracellular effects these nanoparticles have
on mammalian cells. The aim of this work is to investigate whether
silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) conjugated with nuclear and cytoplasmic
targeting peptides exhibit the same intracellular effects on cancer
cells as peptide-conjugated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Nuclear and
cytoplasmic targeting spherical AgNPs with a diameter of 35 nm were
incubated in a cancer (HSC-3) and healthy (HaCat) cell line. By utilizing
flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and real-time dark field imaging,
we were able to analyze how targeting AgNPs affect the cell cycle
and cell division. These experiments demonstrated that nuclear-targeting
AgNPs cause DNA double-strand breaks and a subsequent increase in
the sub G1 (apoptotic) population in our cancer cell model at much
lower concentrations than previously reported for nuclear targeting
AuNPs. Unlike the M phase accumulation seen in cancer cells treated
with AuNPs, an accumulation in the G2 phase of the cell cycle was
observed in both cell models when treated with AgNPs. Additionally,
real-time dark field imaging showed that cancer cells treated with
nuclear targeting AgNPs did not undergo cell division and ultimately
underwent programmed cell death. A possible explanation of the observed
results is discussed in terms of the chemical properties of the nanoparticles.