Nanoparticles (NPs) have shown promise in both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. NPs are mainly transported along cellular microtubules (MTs). Docetaxel (DTX) is a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug that can manipulate the cellular MT network to maximize its clinical benefit. However, the effect of DTX on NP behaviour has not yet been fully elucidated. We used gold NPs of diameters 15 and 50 nm at a concentration of 0.2 nM to investigate the size dependence of NP behaviour. Meanwhile, DTX concentrations of 0, 10 and 50 nM were used to uphold clinical relevance. Our study reveals that a concentration of 50 nM DTX increased NP uptake by ~50% and their retention by ~90% compared to cells treated with 0 and 10 nM DTX. Smaller NPs had a 20-fold higher uptake in cells treated with 50 nM DTX vs. 0 and 10 nM DTX. With the treatment of 50 nm DTX, the cells became more spherical in shape, and NPs were redistributed closer to the nucleus. A significant increase in NP uptake and retention along with their intracellular distribution closer to the nucleus with 50 nM DTX could be exploited to target a higher dose to the most important target, the nucleus in both radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

The adsorption of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on metallic substrates is of interest in the field of optoelectronics, due to the possibility of designing complex materials with tunable properties through surface functionalization with organic molecules. Much of the modelling research in this field has focused on perfectly symmetrical (pristine) substrates. There is limited information on the effect of substrate irregularities, such as adatoms, on the binding of PAHs onto substrates. Here, we examine how the presence of substrate-bound adatoms affects the binding of coronene and hexahelicene monomers and dimers on Au(111) and Cu(111) substrates, using a density functional theory approach. We found that helicene monomers were more effectively able to adapt to the presence of the adatoms than coronene, by coiling around the adatoms. Whereas upon adsorption on a pristine (111) surface, coronene can establish significantly stronger dispersive interactions than helicenes, adatom defects reverse the trend. For helicenes, the extent of flattening near the surface and molecular coiling are strongly influenced by the size of the defect, as a result of the interplay between the molecule’s drive to maximize overlap with the underlying surface and the enhanced reactivity of the low-coordinated adatoms.