Selective Interaction and Radio-Sensitizing Effect of Rutin-G-Modified Titanium Peroxide Nanoparticles on Breast Cancer Cells

Alpha (α)-glucosyl rutin (Rutin-G) was modified to the surface of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to improve the accumulation of TiO2 NPs in cancer cells. Rutin-G acts as a competitive inhibitor of glucose and is hypothesized to bind to glucose transporter 1 (Glut1), leading to selective internalization of Rutin-G-modified-NPs (RutinG-TiOx NPs). RutinG-TiOx NPs were characterized for its optical properties using UV-Vis spectroscopy. Chemical bonds and surface functional groups were determined using Fourier transform infrared. Hydrodynamic size and zeta potential were analyzed using dynamic light scattering. Rutin-G modification on the NPs was confirmed with a relative Rutin-G amount of 22.8% on RutinG-TiOx NPs. These NPs demonstrated 3-fold higher cellular uptake than our previously developed titanium peroxide NPs with polyacrylic acid (PAA) surface-modified (PAA-TiOx NPs) on MDA-MB-231 cells. Although releasing less H2O2 (39.5 µmol/g-NPs), RutinG-TiOx NPs exhibited a comparable radio-sensitization effect to X-ray irradiation at 5 Gy, compared to PAA-TiOx NPs. Hence, RutinG-TiOx NPs offer potential selective targeting to minimize healthy tissue toxicity while maintaining the radio-sensitization effect on breast cancer cells.