Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

4-30-2026

Disciplines

Chemistry

Advisor

Claire Otteson

Abstract

The phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is a cell survival pathway that is commonly unregulated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Current inhibitors of this pathway often face the challenge of inherent and developed resistance. There is the need to further develop a targeted treatment therapy focused on inhibition of this signaling pathway. This could synergistically enhance commonly used cancer therapies such as chemotherapy, which NSCLC patients often develop resistance to. Due to the complexity of the pathway, dual inhibition is an intriguing avenue of research as it helps to mitigate resistance from increased survival responses. The use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in treatment is focused on due to their ability to target tumors through their enhances permeability and retention effects of macromolecules and their ability to be used in photothermal therapy. Conjugating AuNPs with PI3K inhibitor analogues and mTOR inhibitors analogues provide a novel approach to this therapy response. The additional conjugation of Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) can allow for longer retention time of the drugs leading to further accumulation at the tumor site. Further studies need be done to test the efficacy of this AuNP PI3K/mTOR inhibitor PEGylated drug therapy, and possible off target and toxic effects need to be determined.

Additional Files
Capstone Presentaion.pptx (4072 kB)
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