99mTc-labeled keratin gold-nanoparticles in a nephron-like microfluidic chip for photo-thermal therapy applications

Biocompatible gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are particularly interesting for photo-thermal therapy (PTT) of cancer treatment because their ability to convert light into heating efficiently. Nevertheless, the random accumulation AuNPs in tissues, mainly determined by retention time bloodstream, is one main limiting factors use PTT applications. For this reason, efficient targeting and monitoring selected tissues paramount importance. This manuscript reports on a new generation 99m Tc-labeled coated with keratin (Ker-AuNPs) spatial localization investigated nuclear imaging techniques an animal-free model. The effective radiolabeling Ker-AuNPs Tc achieved using chelating agent diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), resulting Tc-DTPA-Ker-AuNPs nanoconjugate. display radiochemical purity 90.7% excellent properties. In addition, biocompatibility healthy human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells shown. A Lab-On-a-Chip (LoC) approach used localize study stability under dynamic conditions. To end, nanoconjugates injected polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic chip mimicking renal filtering unit, nephron, monitored via radio-imaging thermo-optical experiments. These detailed studies establish that DTPA-assisted candidates as biocompatible non-invasive radiolabeled nanotherapeutic PTT-based