While cancer treatments such as radio-, chemo- and immune-therapeutic techniques are being investigated, the number of side-effects of these techniques makes it essential to develope more targeted therapeutics. In this regard, nanodrugs have been widely investigated for targeted therapeutic applications. In our research group, we have developed novel nanomaterials, nanoGUMBOS, from a Group of Uniform Material Based on Organic Salts (GUMBOS). Similar to ionic liquids, these GUMBOS are comprised of cationic and anionic moieties; however, their melting points range from 25°C-250°C as compared to the melting points of ionic liquids which is below 100 °C. In contrast to conventional nanomedicines, our nanodrugs may serve as the drug themselves, thus eliminating the need to optimize drug loading and release. Recently, our research group has discovered that development of these nanoGUMBOS from Rhodamine 6G using unique counterions, was found to result in selective toxicity towards cancer cells with no apparent toxicity towards normal cells. Herein, development of nanoGUMBOS from other cationic rhodamine dyes is investigated to examine if similar selective chemotherapeutic behavior is observed. Transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering were used to examine the size and shape of the prepared nanoparticles. Cytotoxicities of these nanomaterials were assessed using the MTT assay. Lastly, cellular uptake and localization studies were performed in conjunction with fluorescence microscopy to further understand the in-vitro behavior of these nanoparticles. These results gave further insight into a technique that can be used for simple and rapid synthesis of an array of rhodamine based nanomaterials with selective toxicity towards cancer cells and no toxicity toward normal cells under the experimental conditions employed.

Selective chemotherapeutic applications of rhodamine-based NanoGUMBOS

255th National Meeting (2018)

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