Effects of Nuclear-Targeted Nanoparticles on the Cell Function in Human Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells During Cisplatin Treatment

Abstract

This project focuses on evaluating the effects of nanoparticles on the cellular responses in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (HSC) cells during the administration of cisplatin. Cisplatin is an effective chemotherapeutic drug used to treat numerous forms of human cancer. It is, however, also highly susceptible to creating drug resistance in cancer cells. Restriction of the mobility of HSC cells reduces its ability to spread resistant cells throughout the body. In this study, we investigated the cellular mobility of HSC cells in the presence of a combination of cisplatin and nuclear-targeted gold nanocubes. The HSC cells were treated with cisplatin with and without nanocubes to study their effects on the mobility. Trends were assessed for changes in position and velocity over time. It was found that, the presence of nanoparticles alone restricts the displacement of the HSC cells. As an extension, the effects of nanoparticles on drug resistant HCS cells was studied. HSC cells were systematically treated with cisplatin to create cisplatin-resistant cell lines. The viability of these cell lines were then tested at different levels of drug resistance. Furthermore, the effect of nuclear-targeted nanoparticles on bypassing drug resistance in cisplatin-resistant HSC cells were evaluated. Trends amongst cell resistance and nanoparticle presence were assessed. Furthermore, the radius and surface charge were analyzed to understand characteristics that lead to optimal uptake. Additionally, the growth and changes in uptake experienced by cisplatin resistant cells were analyzed to gain insight into how these changes effected uptake of the nanoparticles.