Mitochondria as a target for radiosensitisation by gold nanoparticles

Micro-Mini & Nano-Dosimetry & Innovative Technologies in Radiation Therapy

McMahon, S.J.^1 ; McNamara, A.L.^1 ; Schuemann, J.^1 ; Prise, K.M.^2 ; Paganetti, H.^1

Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Vard Medical School, Boston, United States^1

Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom^2

关键词: Cell nucleus;    DNA damages;    Gold nanoparticles (GNPs);    Mitochondrial DNA;    Nuclear DNA;    X ray irradiation;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/777/1/012008/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/777/1/012008

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

While Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs) have been extensively studied as radiosensitisers in recent years, there is a lack of studies of their impact on targets outside of the cell's nuclear DNA. We present Monte Carlo simulations of the energy deposited by X-ray irradiation in mitochondria in cells with and without cytoplasmic GNPs. These simulations show that the presence of GNPs within the cytoplasm can significantly increase (3-4 fold) the number of ionisation clusters of both small and large sizes. As these clusters are strongly associated with DNA damage, these results suggest that mitochondrial DNA may be a significant target for GNP radiosensitisation when the nanoparticles cannot penetrate the cell nucleus.