Gold Coated Lanthanide Phosphate Nanoparticles for Targeted Alpha Generator Radiotherapy

Targeted radiotherapies maximize cytotoxicty to cancer cells. In vivo α-generator targeted radiotherapies can deliver multiple α particles to a receptor site dramatically amplifying the radiation dose delivered to the target. The major challenge with α-generator radiotherapies is that traditional chelating moieties are unable to sequester the radioactive daughters in the bioconjugate which is critical to minimize toxicity to healthy, non-target tissue. The recoil energy of the ²²⁵Ac daughters following α decay will sever any metal-ligand bond used to form the bioconjugate. This work demonstrates that an engineered multilayered nanoparticle-antibody conjugate can deliver multiple α radiations and contain the decay daughters of ²²⁵Ac while targeting biologically relevant receptors in a female BALB/c mouse model. These multi-shell nanoparticles combine the radiation resistance of lanthanide phosphate to contain ²²⁵Ac and its radioactive decay daughters, the magnetic properties of gadolinium phosphate for easy separation, and established gold chemistry for attachment of targeting moieties.