Table 1 Application of Gold nanorods as delivery agents in anticancer therapy
From: Gold nanoparticles and gold nanorods in the landscape of cancer therapy
Therapeutic agent/Bio-molecule | Coupling molecule | Type of study | Type of cancer | Name of cell line | Animal model | Outcomes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anacardiaceae | - | In vitro In vivo | Breast cancer | MCF-7 breast tumor cell line | Female BALB/c nude mice | The encapsulation of drug lead to improved bioavailability of drug as it helped the drug molecules to reach the targeted site. This led to superior cytotoxic action of AC-AUNPs further attributed to the anomalies occurring at metabolic stage and due to the prominent rate of proliferation | [74] |
Indocyanine green and paclitaxel | Hyaluronic acid and cationic bovine serum albumin | In vitro In vivo | Breast cancer | 4T1 tumor cells | BALB/c mice | The prepared nanoparticles act as a dual targeting agent by inhibiting tumor as well as lung metastasis | [75] |
Technetium-99Â m labeled-resveratrol | - | In vitro In vivo | Colon cancer | HT29 colon cancer cells | Male Sprague Dawley rats | The study establishes a base for using AUNPs to deliver potent radiolabelled drugs, limited by poor bioavailability to the targeted cancer sites as theranostic agents | [76] |
SN38 | Hyaluronic acid (HA) | In vitro | Colon cancer | HCT-29, SW480 and CHO cell lines | - | SN38 and HA conjugated AUNPs has a dual anti-tumor effect. The nanoparticles delivered the drug successfully at the site of action. Also the cytotoxic effect of AUNPs increases upon applying an external source of light (LED), that promotes photothermal activity of the gold core | [77] |
Bovine pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase A) | - | In vitro In vivo | Colon cancer | SW-480 colon cancer cells | - | RNase conjugated AUNPs suppressed cancer cell invasion by inhibiting extracellular signal regulated protein kinases (ERK1/2) pathway | [78] |
Docetaxel | folic acid | In vitro | Lung cancer | H520 lung cancer cell line | - | To increase the bioavailability of poorly soluble docetaxel, it was encapsulated in gold nanoparticles and folic acid conjugation further improve the tumor targeting ability of the nanoparticle | Â |
EGFR siRNA | Collagen | In vitro In vivo | Lung cancer | A549 lung cancer cell line | Male nude Balb/c mice | Collagen fabrication led to enhanced siRNA loading capacity | [79] |
Apoptosis protein-2 inhibitor (API-2) siRNA | Hyaluronic acid (HA) | In vitro | Lung cancer | A549 lung cancer cell line | - | API-2 siRNAs containing AUNPs -HA were taken up efficiently by A549 cells by abolish API-2 expression and other oncogenic activities, implying that API-2 siRNA or other siRNA containing AUNPs -HA nanocomposite could be used to treat cancer and other gene disorders | [80] |
Specificity Protein 1-siRNA (SP1-siRNA) | - | In vitro In vivo | Lung cancer | A549 lung cancer cells | Balb/c mice, | Radiosensitizing ability of siRNA-loaded AUNPs was investigated on lung tumors, both in vitro and in vivo | [81] |
Paclitaxel (PTX) | Polyethylenimine-Pluronic | In vitro In vivo | Prostate cancer | PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines | PC3 tumor-bearing mice | An effective and non-invasive therapy for androgen-resistant prostate cancer was developed using Polyethylenimine-Pluronic micelles encapsulating PTX containing AUNPs | [82] |
- | Double stranded-DNA | In vitro In vivo | Prostate cancer | PC-3 and DU-145 prostate tumor cells | Balb/c mice | Activity of double stranded-DNA complexed AUNPs as vectors for reprogramming cancer cell metabolism was investigated and reported | [83] |
- | Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) | In vitro | Prostate cancer | PC3pip and PC3flu cells | Balb/c mice | A multimodal contrast agent utilizing NIRF/CT/MR techniques for early-stage diagnosis and clinical application in prostate cancer exhibit excellent results in terms of PSMA targeting, effective mononuclear phagocyte system escaping, and profitable renal-clearable behaviour in animal model | [84] |