Radiosynthesis of Stable ¹⁹⁸Au-Nanoparticles by Neutron Activation of _v3-Specific AuNPs for Therapy of Tumor Angiogenesis

This paper reports on the development of stable tumor-specific gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) activated by neutron irradiation as a therapeutic option for the treatment of cancer with high tumor angiogenesis. The AuNPs were designed with different mono- or dithiol-ligands and decorated with different amounts of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptides as a tumor-targeting vector for alpha(v)beta(3) integrin, which is overexpressed in tissues with high tumor angiogenesis. The AuNPs were evaluated for avidity in vitro and showed favorable properties with respect to tumor cell accumulation. Furthermore, the therapeutic properties of the [Au-198]AuNPs were evaluated in vitro on U87MG cells in terms of cell survival, suggesting that these [Au-198]AuNPs are a useful basis for future therapeutic concepts.