Fig. 6
From: Radiosensitizing high-Z metal nanoparticles for enhanced radiotherapy of glioblastoma multiforme
(Reproduced with permission from reference: [144], copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V)
Biological mechanism of interaction between incident photons and high-Z NPs. Consequences of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were generated from high-z nanoparticle through radiolysis water molecule. These ROS induce cell death via several effect (e.g. apoptosis, necrosis, mitotic cell death, autophagy, and permanent cell cycle arrest) and lead several types of defects such as base damages and protein modification (e.g. cross-linking, oxidation). Incident X-photons also damages DNA (e.g. single-strand breaks (SSBs), double-stranded breaks (DSBs)) by direct or indirect effect. With X-ray irradiation, amplified production of ROS and secondary electron from the high-Z nanoparticle result in cytotoxic enhancement on cells