Gold Nanoparticle and Mean Inactivation Dose of Human Intestinal Colon Cancer HT-29 Cells

Mean inactivation dose is a useful radiobiological parameter for the comparison of human cell survival curves. Given the importance and accuracy of these parameters, in the present study, the radio sensitivity enhancement of colon cancer (HT-29) cells in the presence of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were studied using the mean inactivation dose (MID). Naked-GNPs with 50 nm diameters were incubated with HT-29 cells. The cytotoxicity and uptake of these particles on HT-29 cells were assessed. After determining the optimum GNPs concentration, the cells were incubated with gold nanoparticle for 24 hours. The change in the MID value as well as the radio sensitization enhancement under irradiation with 9 MV X-ray beams in the presence of GNPs were evaluated by multiple (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium)MTS assay. Cell survival in the presence of GNPs was more than 90% and the maximum uptake of GNPs was observed at 60 µM of gold nanoparticles. In contrast, in the presence of GNPs combined with radiation, cell survival and MID value significantly decreased, so that the radio sensitization enhancement was 1.4. Due to the significant reduction in the mean inactivation dose of colon cancer cells in the presence of gold nanoparticles, it seems that GNPs are suitable options to achieve a new approach in order to improve radiotherapy efficiency without increasing the prescribed radiation dose.