Triptorelin-functionalized PEG-coated biosynthesized gold nanoparticles: Effects of receptor-ligand interactions on adhesion to triple negative breast cancer cells

Vanessa O Uzonwanne; Arvand Navabi; John D Obayemi; Jingjie Hu; Ali A Salifu; Shahnaz Ghahremani; Nelson Ndahiro; Nima Rahbar; Winston Soboyejo

doi:10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.212801

Triptorelin-functionalized PEG-coated biosynthesized gold nanoparticles: Effects of receptor-ligand interactions on adhesion to triple negative breast cancer cells

Biomater Adv. 2022 May:136:212801. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.212801. Epub 2022 Apr 12.

Authors

Vanessa O Uzonwanne¹, Arvand Navabi², John D Obayemi³, Jingjie Hu⁴, Ali A Salifu³, Shahnaz Ghahremani⁵, Nelson Ndahiro⁶, Nima Rahbar², Winston Soboyejo⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
² Department of Civil Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Kaven Hall, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Gateway Park, Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, 60 Prescott Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
⁴ Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Mayo Clinic, 13400 East Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Gateway Park, Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, 60 Prescott Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
⁶ Department of Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
⁷ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Gateway Park, Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, 60 Prescott Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA. Electronic address: wsoboyejo@wpi.edu.

PMID: 35929297
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.212801

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental and computational study of the adhesion of triptorelin-conjugated PEG-coated biosynthesized gold nanoparticles (GNP-PEG-TRP) to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. The adhesion is studied at the nanoscale using a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The AFM measurements showed that the triptorelin-functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNP-TRP and GNP-PEG-TRP) have higher adhesion to triple-negative breast cancer cells (TNBC) than non-tumorigenic breast cells. The increased adhesion of GNP-TRP and GNP-PEG-TRP to TNBC is also attributed to the overexpression of LHRH receptors on the surfaces of both TNBC. Finally, the molecular dynamics model reveals insights into the effects of receptor density, molecular configuration, and receptor-ligand docking characteristics on the interactions of triptorelin-functionalized PEG-coated gold nanoparticles with TNBC. A three to nine-fold increase in the adhesion is predicted between triptorelin-functionalized PEG-coated gold nanoparticles and TNBC cells. The implications of the results are then discussed for the specific targeting of TNBC.

Keywords: AFM; Adhesion; Molecular dynamic simulation; PEG-coated gold nanoparticles; Triple negative breast cancer; Triptorelin.

MeSH terms

Cell Line, Tumor
Gold / pharmacology
Humans
Ligands
Metal Nanoparticles*
Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Triptorelin Pamoate / pharmacology

Substances

Ligands
Triptorelin Pamoate
Gold