Dual Action Enhancement of Gold Nanoparticle Radiosensitization by Pentamidine in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Radiat Res. 2016 May;185(5):549-62. doi: 10.1667/RR14315.1. Epub 2016 May 2.

Abstract

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive disease with a high risk of recurrence and death. Here, we present a novel strategy to enhance the radiotherapy of TNBC by combining gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with pentamidine, a clinically approved anti-parasitic agent with anti-cancer properties. The radiosensitization effects of PEG-stabilized AuNPs (PEG-AuNPs) in combination with pentamidine were evaluated in two human TNBC cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-436). Our results showed that PEG-AuNPs alone sensitized both cell lines to radiation, achieving dose enhancement factors of 1.26 and 1.15 in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-436, respectively. In combination with pentamidine, the greatest dose enhancement was achieved in MDA-MB-231 after 24 h of treatment with 500 μM PEG-AuNPs and 20 μM pentamidine (dose enhancement factor of 1.55). Based on the in vitro data, it is projected that this combination would result in a 10 log increase in cell kill compared to radiation alone in a clinical setting, where 50 Gy is administered to breast cancer patients in 25 fractions over 5 weeks. Studies to elucidate the underlying mechanism of radiosensitization revealed that the adsorption of pentamidine onto the PEG-AuNP surface increased the cellular uptake of gold compared to PEG-AuNPs alone. In addition, the combination resulted in a significantly greater number of residual DNA double-strand breaks compared to that of either agent alone after a 2 Gy dose. Taken together, the dual action of pentamidine on the physical and biological pathways of radiosensitization by PEG-AuNPs results in superior radiotherapeutic effects of the combined treatment group in MDA-MB-231.

MeSH terms

  • Biological Transport
  • Cell Cycle / drug effects
  • Cell Cycle / radiation effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded / drug effects
  • DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded / radiation effects
  • Drug Synergism
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • Gold / metabolism
  • Gold / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Metal Nanoparticles*
  • Particle Size
  • Pentamidine / pharmacology*
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry
  • Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / chemistry*
  • Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / metabolism
  • Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / pharmacology*
  • Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / pathology*

Substances

  • Radiation-Sensitizing Agents
  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • Pentamidine
  • Gold