%0 Journal Article
%T Intracellular gold nanoparticles enhance non-invasive radiofrequency thermal destruction of human gastrointestinal cancer cells
%A Christopher J Gannon
%A Chitta Patra
%A Resham Bhattacharya
%A Priyabrata Mukherjee
%A Steven A Curley
%J Journal of Nanobiotechnology
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1477-3155-6-2
%X GNPs had no impact on cellular proliferation by MTT assay. PI-FACS confirmed that GNPs alone produced no cytotoxicity. A GNP dose-dependent RF-induced cytotoxicity was observed. For Hep3B cells treated with a 67 ¦ÌM/L dose of GNPs, cytotoxicity at 1, 2 and 5 minutes of RF was 99.0%, 98.5%, and 99.8%. For Panc-1 cells treated at the 67 ¦ÌM/L dose, cytotoxicity at 1, 2, and 5 minutes of RF was 98.5%, 98.7%, and 96.5%. Lower doses of GNPs were associated with significantly lower rates of RF-induced thermal cytotoxicity for each cell line (P < 0.01). Cells not treated with GNPs but treated with RF for identical time-points had less cytotoxicity (Hep3B: 17.6%, 21%, and 75%; Panc-1: 15.3%, 26.4%, and 39.8%, all P < 0.01).We demonstrate that GNPs 1) have no intrinsic cytotoxicity or anti-proliferative effects in two human cancer cell lines in vitro and 2) GNPs release heat in a focused external RF field. This RF-induced heat release is lethal to cancer cells bearing intracellular GNPs in vitro.Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is now used in clinical practice to treat some malignant tumors, yet it suffers from serious limitations [1-4]. These shortcomings include: 1) RFA is currently an invasive treatment requiring insertion of needle electrodes directly into the tumor(s) to be treated; 2) incomplete tumor destruction occurs in 5% ¨C 40% of the treated lesions, particularly if lesions are > 4¨C5 cm in diameter; 3) the treatment is nonspecific with both malignant and normal tissues around the needle electrode undergoing thermal injury; 4) complications arise in up to 10% of patients, frequently related to thermal injury to normal tissues; 5) and invasive RFA is limited to treatment of tumors in only a few organ sites (liver, kidney, breast, lung, bone) [5,6]. Interestingly, the tissue penetration in humans by focused external RF energy fields is known to be excellent [7]. In theory, non-invasive RF treatment of malignant tumors at any site in the body should be possible, but such a
%U http://www.jnanobiotechnology.com/content/6/1/2