resumo
Neutron capture therapy (NCT) is a form of radiotherapy that exploits the potential of some specific isotopes to capture thermal neutrons and subsequently yield high linear energy transfer (LET) particles, suitable for cancer treatment. Recently, relevant technological improvements have been made in terms of accelerators as suitable neutron sources for NCT at hospitals. However, low selective delivery of current drugs to cancer cells remains as the main challenge for successful clinical application of NCT. This work presents an innovative and previously unexplored approach for the design of nanotherapeutic NCT agents. Herein, a new concept based on carbon nanomaterials that seal 6Li active NCT nuclides is investigated. The 6Li active species are located in the inner cavity of the nanocarrier (carbon nanohorns or carbon nanotubes) and therefore, completely protected from the biological environment, avoiding toxicity and degradation. After encapsulation of the active cargo, the external surface of the nanocarrier is modified for improved biocompatibility. The developed 6Li-filled carbon nanohorns offered the possibility to explore 6Li compounds as active NCT agents by delivering therapeutic doses to cancer cells. We envisage that nanoencapsulation of 6Li can trigger the successful development and implementation of Lithium Neutron Cancer Therapy (LiNCT).
palavras-chave
NANOTUBES; CANCER; LOCALIZATION; NANOHORNS
categoria
Chemistry; Materials Science
autores
Gonçalves, G; Sandoval, S; Llenas, M; Ballesteros, B; Da Ros, T; Bortolussi, S; Cansolino, L; Ferrari, C; Postuma, I; Protti, N; Melle-Franco, M; Altieri, S; Tobías-Rossell, G
nossos autores
Manuel Melle-Franco
Investigador PrincipalProjectos
Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies, CoLab (EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
Projeto de Investigação Exploratória: Manuel Melle (IF Manuel Melle)
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDB/50011/2020)
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDP/50011/2020)
Associated Laboratory CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (LA/P/0006/2020)
agradecimentos
G. T. acknowledges funding from ERC Consolidator Grant NEST (725743). G.G. gratefully acknowledges the funding by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) for Programme Stimulus of Scientific Employment - Individual Support (CEECIND/01913/2017), financial support of project CARBONCT (2022.03596.PTDC), TEMA UIDB/00481/2020 and UIDP/00481/2020; and CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-022083 - Centro Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Centro2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund. In addition, support through the project IF/00894/2015 and within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020 & LA/P/0006/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC (PIDDAC) is gratefully acknowledged. We acknowledge funding by INFN (CSN5)-project ENTER_BNCT. ICMAB and ICN2 acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain), through the "Severo Ochoa" Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (CEX2019-000917-S and CEX2021-001214-S respectively). ICN2 is supported by CERCA programme. We acknowledge funding from Generalitat de Catalunya (2021-SGR-00439, 2017 SGR 327). M.Ll. has carried out this work in the framework of the Doctoral Degree Program in Materials Science of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. We acknowledge fruitful discussions with Manuel Altabas and support with the XPS analysis by Guillaume Sauthier.