MSc Defence: LOW INTENSITY PULSED ULTRASOUND (LIPUS)-MEDIATED DELIVERY OF DRUG LOADED GOLD NANOPARTICLES: SPHEROID IN VITRO CELL CULTURE STUDY

Student: Kevin Lee

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Kolios

Abstract:

Chemotherapy is a widely used method of cancer treatment through administering anticancer drugs. These drugs circulate in vasculature, resulting in the exposure of many non-cancerous cells in the body in an attempt to prevent further proliferation of cancer. To this aim, anticancer drugs must penetrate the extravascular space of the tumor in sufficient quantities. Unfortunately, many barriers in the tumor microenvironment prevent drugs from efficient penetration. We developed a drug delivery system that uses low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) to release drugs from drug-loaded nanoparticles to overcome these barriers. The ability of LIPUS to enhance drug penetration and cell death was studied on a 3D spheroid cell model using doxorubicin-loaded gold nanoparticles (AuDox). The treatment resulted in 2.6, 2.8, 1.6, and 1.2 fold increase in total Dox fluorescence at spheroid depths of 30 µm, 60 µm, 90 µm, and 100 µm, respectively, and the total cell death increased by 14.1% and 31.2% for AuDox and doxorubicin, respectively.