Characterizing Mesoporous Carbon-Based Dopamine as an Efficient Carrier for Treatment in HeLa Cells

Abstract

Cancer is at the forefront of one of the most deadly diseases to plague our nation. In attempts to find definite cures, nothing has been completely successful in lowering the mortality rate of this disease. Materials research, however, has been presented to be a viable alternative by targeting nanoparticles; these molecules can be customized to hold chemicals within their hollow structure that only affect mutated cells. This experiment utilizes mesoporous carbon-based dopamine nanoparticles to treat HeLa cells, which are baseline to most strains of cervical cancer. The hypothesis stated that if mesoporous carbon-based dopamine is introduced to cancer cells in increasing concentrations, the higher end of the variable spectrum will have a high mortality rate and lesser targeted effect. After being transferred to a 96-well plate, the cells were introduced to the nanoparticles and incubated for 7 days until the testing. The stability and retinance capabilities of the MCBD were trialed using assays such as an IC-50 for viability, photothermal for heat capacity, and photostability for cell divisibility upon exposure to nanoparticles. After analysis, the data presented that the 100 ug/mL was the most efficient concentration to infiltrate the cell and not be deteriorated by the activation heat exposure; all three curves created from the assay data determined that too high of a concentration tended to kill the cell and higher heat levels on the other concentrations destroyed both. Hence, these results can be further applied to alternative cancer treatment research fields and the further investigation of nanoparticles.