Radiosensitizing Effect of Gold Nanoparticles Stabilized with Sodium Citrate and Thioglycolic Acid on MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 Breast Cancer Cells.
8 affiliations
- 1Institute of Future Biophysics, Moscow Center for Advanced Studies, Moscow 123592, Russia.
- 2State Research Center-Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Moscow 123098, Russia.
- 3Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics of RAS, Moscow 119334, Russia.
- 4Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna 141980, Russia.
- 5Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Dubna State University, Dubna 141980, Russia.
- 6Laboratory of Solid State Physics, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Almaty 050032, Kazakhstan.
- 7Institute of Cell Biophysics of Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Russia.
- 8CANDLE Synchrotron Research Institute, 31 Acharyan, Yerevan 0040, Armenia.
Abstract
Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have been increasingly investigated as potential radiosensitizing agents for the treatment of cancer. In the present study, AuNP stabilized with sodium citrate and thioglycolic acid (AuNP-Cit-TGA) were synthesized to assess their radiosensitizing effects on MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 breast cancer cells after X-ray exposure. The AuNP-Cit-TGA displayed an average diameter of 22 nm, showcasing extremely low hemolytic activity in vitro, along with a moderate rate of cellular uptake. AuNP-Cit-TGA notably decreased cell viability in both cell lines 48 h after exposure to a radiation dose of 6 Gy, as demonstrated by the Alamar Blue assay. Dose-response clonogenic assay indicated a significant decrease in the survival of nanoparticle-treated MCF7 cells compared to control groups. This decrease was associated with heightened oxidative stress, as evidenced by increased DCFH fluorescence and a decrease in the expression of SOD2, GPx1, CAT, and TXRDN1 genes 24 h following 2 Gy exposure. Remarkably, the uptake of AuNP-Cit-TGA enhanced the occurrence of single-strand DNA breaks in MCF7 cells by nearly double when compared to radiation treatment alone. However, this effect was not statistically significant in MDA-MB-231 cells. Despite this, residual γH2AX and 53BP1 foci were observed in both cell lines, revealing ongoing unrepaired DNA double-strand breaks connected to the uptake of nanoparticles by cells. Collectively, these findings provide valuable insights into the application of AuNP-Cit-TGA as an effective radiosensitizing agent in breast cancer radiotherapy.
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BibTeX
@article{smirnova2026radiosensitizing,
title = {{Radiosensitizing Effect of Gold Nanoparticles Stabilized with Sodium Citrate and Thioglycolic Acid on MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 Breast Cancer Cells.}},
author = {Anna Smirnova and Elizaveta Kontareva and Zain Nofal and Valery Kryuchikhin and Anna Chigasova and Nikita Drozhzhin and Evgeny Andreev and Irina Fadeikina and Alisher Mutali and Alexander Nechaev and Sergey Leonov and Andreyan N Osipov and Margarita Pustovalova},
journal = {International journal of molecular sciences},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27198632},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883878},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Radiosensitizing Effect of Gold Nanoparticles Stabilized with Sodium Citrate and Thioglycolic Acid on MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 Breast Cancer Cells.
AU - Anna Smirnova
AU - Elizaveta Kontareva
AU - Zain Nofal
AU - Valery Kryuchikhin
AU - Anna Chigasova
AU - Nikita Drozhzhin
AU - Evgeny Andreev
AU - Irina Fadeikina
AU - Alisher Mutali
AU - Alexander Nechaev
AU - Sergey Leonov
AU - Andreyan N Osipov
AU - Margarita Pustovalova
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/26
JO - International journal of molecular sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27198632
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883878
AB - Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have been increasingly investigated as potential radiosensitizing agents for the treatment of cancer. In the present study, AuNP stabilized with sodium citrate and thioglycolic acid (AuNP-Cit-TGA) were synthesized to assess their radiosensitizing effects on MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 breast cancer cells after X-ray exposure. The AuNP-Cit-TGA displayed an average diameter of 22 nm, showcasing extremely low hemolytic activity in vitro, along with a moderate rate of cellular uptake. AuNP-Cit-TGA notably decreased cell viability in both cell lines 48 h after exposure to a radiation dose of 6 Gy, as demonstrated by the Alamar Blue assay. Dose-response clonogenic assay indicated a significant decrease in the survival of nanoparticle-treated MCF7 cells compared to control groups. This decrease was associated with heightened oxidative stress, as evidenced by increased DCFH fluorescence and a decrease in the expression of SOD2, GPx1, CAT, and TXRDN1 genes 24 h following 2 Gy exposure. Remarkably, the uptake of AuNP-Cit-TGA enhanced the occurrence of single-strand DNA breaks in MCF7 cells by nearly double when compared to radiation treatment alone. However, this effect was not statistically significant in MDA-MB-231 cells. Despite this, residual γH2AX and 53BP1 foci were observed in both cell lines, revealing ongoing unrepaired DNA double-strand breaks connected to the uptake of nanoparticles by cells. Collectively, these findings provide valuable insights into the application of AuNP-Cit-TGA as an effective radiosensitizing agent in breast cancer radiotherapy.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -