Gold Nanotheranostics: Photothermal Therapy and Imaging of Mucin 7 Conjugated Antibody Nanoparticles for Urothelial Cancer

OBJECTIVE To kill urothelial cancer cells while preserving healthy cells, this study used photothermal therapy (PTT). PTT techniques target urothelial cancer cells using gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and a green light laser. MATERIALS AND METHODS The GNPs were conjugated with anti-Mucin 7 antibodies, which acted as a probe for targeting tumor cells. Conjugated GNPs were exposed to a green light laser (532 nm) with sufficient thermal energy to kill the transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs). RESULTS According to our results, nanoparticles conjugated with Mucin 7 antibodies damaged all types of cancer cells (MBT2, T24, 9202, and 8301) at relatively low energy levels (i.e., 500 laser shots at 10 W/cm(2) in power, 1.6 Hz in frequency, and 300 ms in duration). Nonconjugated nanoparticles required 30 W/cm(2) or more to achieve the same effect. Cell damage was directly related to irradiation time and applied laser energy. CONCLUSIONS The minimally invasive PTT procedure combined with Mucin 7 targeted GNPs is able to kill cancer cells and preserve healthy cells. The success of this treatment technique can likely be attributed to the lower amount of energy required to kill targeted cancer cells compared with that required to kill nontargeted cancer cells. Our in vitro pilot study yielded promising results; however, additional animal studies are required to confirm these findings.