Radiosynthesis of Stable 198 Au-Nanoparticles by Neutron Activation of α v β 3 -Specific AuNPs for Therapy of Tumor Angiogenesis.

This paper reports on the development of stable tumor-specific gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) activated by neutron irradiation as a therapeutic option for the treatment of cancer with high tumor angiogenesis. The AuNPs were designed with different mono- or dithiol-ligands and decorated with different amounts of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptides as a tumor-targeting vector for α v β 3 integrin, which is overexpressed in tissues with high tumor angiogenesis. The AuNPs were evaluated for avidity in vitro and showed favorable properties with respect to tumor cell accumulation. Furthermore, the therapeutic properties of the [ 198 Au]AuNPs were evaluated in vitro on U87MG cells in terms of cell survival, suggesting that these [ 198 Au]AuNPs are a useful basis for future therapeutic concepts.