cumulative effect of a gold-poly(o-aminophenol) nanocomposite and doxorubicin in photothermal therapy, sonodynamic therapy, and chemotherapy of breast cancer (mcf-7 cell line)

Introduction: nowadays, the applications of non-invasive treating cancer methods such as photothermal therapy (ptt) and sonodynamic therapy (sdt) are increasing. these treatments use photo/sonosensitizers, which are activated after being exposed by laser light irradiation and ultrasound (us) exposure, respectively.methods: herein, a gold-poly (ortho-aminophenol) nanocomposite (au-poap nc) with a spherical shape, a diameter of 46±8 nm was synthesized and evaluated as an 808-nm laser photosensitizer (with 30% photothermal efficiency) and a sonosensitizer upon us exposure. additionally, au-poap nc was appraised with doxorubicin (as a chemotherapy agent) for treating breast cancer cells. the mtt test was done for cell-toxicity evaluation of au-poap nc, doxorubicin, and au-poap nc with doxorubicin with or without irradiation and us exposure (separately and synchronously).results: the results proved that light irradiation and us exposure (separately and synchronously) of au-poap nc with doxorubicin significantly enhanced the cell toxicity in other treatment groups. moreover, cytotoxicity of au-poap nc, doxorubicin, and au-poap nc with doxorubicin toward mcf-7 cells upon ptt and/or sdt was investigated from the aspect of reactive oxygen species (ros) formation. calculating the combination indices revealed that synchronous administration of au-poap nc and doxorubicin and light irradiation and us exposure represented a synergistic therapeutic manner for treating cancer cells.conclusion: this study proved that the synchronous combination of ptt and sdt using au-poap nc with doxorubicin would be an exemplary approach for treating the breast cancer cell line of mcf-7.