Browsing by Author "Kao, Yu-Chih"

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Radiation-Sensitive Dendrimer-Based Drug Delivery System
(2018-02-01)
Wu, Szu-Yuan
;
Chou, Hsiao-Ying
;
Yuh, Chiou-Hwa
;
Mekuria, Shewaye Lakew
;
Kao, Yu-Chih
Combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is used to enhance local drug delivery while reducing off-target tissue effects. Anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) is loaded into L-cysteine modified G4.5 dendrimer (GC/DOX) and released at different pH values in the presence and absence of gamma-radiation. Presence of gamma-radiation significantly improves DOX release from the GC/DOX under acidic pH conditions, suggesting that GC dendrimer is a radiation-sensitive drug delivery system. GC/DOX is further evaluated by determining cytotoxicity in uterine cervical carcinoma HeLa cells. GC/DOX shows high affinity for cancer cells and effective drug release following an external stimulus (radiation exposure), whereas an in vivo zebrafish study confirms that l-cysteine acts as a radiosensitizer. GC/DOX treatment combined with radiotherapy synergistically and successfully inhibits cancer cell growth.