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Laser photo-thermal therapy of epithelial carcinoma using pterin-6-carboxylic acid conjugated gold nanoparticles

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Abstract

Gold nanoparticles functionalized with folic acid toward the internalization into cancer cells have received considerable attention recently. Folic acid is recognized by folate receptors, which are overexpressed in several cancer cells; it is limited in normal cells. In this work, pterin-6-carboxylic acid is proposed as an agonist of folic acid since the pterin-6-carboxylic acid structure has a pterin moiety, the same as folic acid that is recognized by the folate receptor. Here a simple photochemical synthesis of gold nanoparticles functionalized with pterin-6-carboxylic acid is studied. These conjugates were used to cause photothermal damage of HeLa cells irradiating with a diode laser of 808 nm. Pterin-6-carboxylic acid-conjugated gold nanoparticles caused the death of the cell after near-infrared irradiation, dose-dependently. These results indicate a possible internalization of AuNPs via folate receptor-mediated endocytosis due to the recognition or interaction between the folate receptors of HeLa cells and pterin, P6CA.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support for this study by the Universidad Industrial de Santander-UIS (Project DIEF 2320) and the teams of Laboratorio de Microscopia for SEM images and Laboratorio de espectroscopia Atómica y Molecular for ATR-FTIR spectra (Parque Tecnológico Guatiguará of Universidad Industrial de Santander, UIS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones en Catálisis, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Sede Guatiguará UIS, Km 2 vía Refugio, Piedecuesta, Colombia

    Linda Bertel & Fernando Martínez-Ortega

  2. Centro de Investigación Científica Y Tecnológica en Materiales Y Nanociencias (CMN), Universidad Industrial de Santander, Sede Guatiguará UIS, Km 2 vía Refugio, Piedecuesta, Colombia

    Linda Bertel & Fernando Martínez-Ortega

  3. Grupo de Investigación en Bioquímica Y Microbiología GIBIM, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Sede Guatiguará UIS, Km 2 vía Refugio, Piedecuesta, Colombia

    Stelia Carolina Mendez-Sanchez

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  1. Linda Bertel
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Correspondence to Linda Bertel or Fernando Martínez-Ortega.

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Bertel, L., Mendez-Sanchez, S.C. & Martínez-Ortega, F. Laser photo-thermal therapy of epithelial carcinoma using pterin-6-carboxylic acid conjugated gold nanoparticles. Photochem Photobiol Sci 20, 1599–1609 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43630-021-00122-x

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