Investigation of nano immunotherapy drug delivery in lung cancer cells

Lung cancer has high incidence and mortality rates worldwide and so there is strong need for the development of novel therapies. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a photochemotherapeutic cancer treatment that utilizes a photosensitizer (PS) drug that, when activated by laser light at a specific wavelength, yields reactive oxygen species, which in turn induces cell death. However, due to the passive diffusion of PSs, normal surrounding cells are sometimes affected and their targeted concentrations in cancer cells tends to be minimal, thus limiting the effectiveness of this treatment. Therefore, a multicomponent drug targeting strategy is often applied to improve PS specific delivery and concentration in cancer cells, which in turn can improve the effectiveness of PDT. The intention of this study was to improve the PS drug delivery of Zn(II) Phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid (ZnPcS₄) in lung cancer cells, by enhancing its chemical structure. ZnPcS₄ was successfully conjugated to pegylated gold nanoparticles in order to maximize its solubility and stability, as well as bound to specific active tumour-associated antibody-antigens (Cetuximab: Anti-EGFR1 Ab) to aid specific targeted PS delivery. Within in vitro cultured lung cancer cells, this molecular drug delivery system noted improved and specific sub-cellular location of ZnPcS₄. Furthermore, after conducting in vitro PDT experiments, a significant amount of cell death and cytotoxicity was found. Overall, this nano immunotherapy drug conjugation combination of ZnPcS₄ with AuNP and Cetuximab, proved to enhance concentrated PS uptake in lung cancer cells and so improve PDT treatment outcomes for this form of cancer.