Title: Cancer stem-like cells photothermolysed by gold nanorod-mediated near-infrared laser irradiation

Authors: Ching-An Peng; Chung-Hao Wang

Addresses: Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931, USA ' Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan

Abstract: Several studies have recently identified CD133 as a marker of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) for various tumours. Such findings make CD133 a potential molecular target for tumour-selective therapeutic approach. In this study, fluorescence-tagged CD133 monoclonal antibody (anti-CD133) was conjugated to gold nanorods (GNRs), which are one of the anisotropic nanomaterials that can absorb near-infrared (NIR) laser light and convert it to heat for the destruction of tumour-initiating cells. To examine the specific targeting feature of GNRs conjugated with anti-CD133, CD133⁺ and CD133⁻ glioblastoma cells were separately cultivated in the presence of the functionalised GNRs. Our results showed that anti-CD133-conjugated GNRs were extensively endocytosed by CD133⁺ cells, whereas anti-CD133 bound GNRs were not internalised by CD133⁻ cells. To examine the efficacy of photothermolysis, anti-CD133-conjugated GNRs were first incubated with a mixed population of CD133⁺ and CD133⁻ cells for 6 h, and the treated cells were then irradiated with 808-nm NIR laser light for a total of 15 min under different intensities. When examined by cell live/death dye, CD133⁺ cells were selectively targeted and killed, whereas non-CD133 expressing cells remained viable. On the basis of our study, GNRs bound with anti-CD133 monoclonal antibody have the potential to be utilised as a therapeutic thermal-coupling nano-scalpel to effectively target and destroy CSCs under NIR laser light exposure.

Keywords: cancer stem-like cells; CD133 monoclonal antibody; gold nanorods; near-infrared laser irradiation; photothermolysis; nanotechnology; cancer cells; tumours; markers; molecular targets; cell destruction; anisotropic nanomaterials; therapeutic thermal coupling nanoscalpel.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2014.065142

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2014 Vol.11 No.12, pp.1157 - 1165

Published online: 06 Feb 2015 *

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