Hyperthermic Cytotoxicity Induced by Noninvasive Radiofrequency Field Exposure After Delivery of EGFR Family Targeted Gold Nanoparticles

Noninvasive radiofrequency (RF) fields heat metal nanoparticles in a concentration dependent fashion. Gold nanoparticles are especially interesting for biomedical applications because they not only heat well, but they have an established biosafety profile. Antibody-targeted gold nanoparticles have been used to induce hyperthermic cytotoxicity when exposed to RF fields. Two carcinoma cells lines, Panc-1 and Hep3B, were individually treated with 100 nM panitumumab and trastuzumab antibody conjugated 10 nm gold nanoparticles and subsequently exposed to an RF field for a total generator power of ∼100 kJ. Two days later, control cells treated with antibody labeled gold nanoparticles, but not exposed to the RF field, maintained an average viability of 92.1% ± 2.5% for Hep 3B cells and 89.1% ± 2.1% for Panc-1 cells based on flow cytometry. Panc-1 cells treated the same way with subsequent RF field exposure had viability less than 80% (p ∼ 0.001). Hep3B cells showed a similar decrease in viability after trastuzumab-gold treatment (74.5% ± 6.9%), but not panitumumab. This demonstrates a new and developing use of antibodies, specifically, against EGFR family targets.