Abstract 2331 Silver Graphene Quantum Dots as Drug Delivery Platforms for Anti-cancer Applications

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in men in the US.(2019) There are many types of cancer treatments such as: Rehabilitation therapy, Immunotherapy, Hormone therapy , Stem Cell Therapy, Chemotherapy, etc. Specifically, chemotherapy has many limitations because most current drugs used also destroy healthy cells and cause: nausea, vomiting, alopecia, diarrhea, anemia, bleeding, sterility, among other side effects. For this reason, we developed nanoparticle (NPs) drug delivery platforms for cancer treatment, composed of silver graphene quantum dots nanocomposites (AgGQD), which are known to enhance drug therapies. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are toxic to both normal and cancer cells. They impart toxicity to cancer cells by decreasing mitochondrial function, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), dysregulation of the cell cycle, induction of apoptotic genes such as Bax, micronucleus formation, chromosome aberration and DNA damage. In addition to these cellular mechanisms, AgNPs have also shown antiangiogenic and antiproliferative properties. AgNPs are antiangiogenic by inhibiting PI3K phosphorylation of Akt, so the signaling pathway cannot complete, eventually ending angiogenesis, starving the cell of oxygen, and killing the tumor cell. In this study, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are used to reduce the toxicity of AgNPs in healthy cells and improve their performance as drug delivery platforms. In addition, GQDs may help to increase the solubility of drugs that have shown low solubility in water. To achieve this, the NPs were synthesized using graphene quantum dots as reducing agents. We identified the IC50 value and performed the validation tests on the AgGQD and AgGQD doped to compare and evaluate the toxicity on the cells. Also, we performed confocal microscopy to identify were the drug located inside the cells.