Gold nanostars for cancer cell-targeted SERS-imaging and NIR light-triggered plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) in the first and second biological windows

Author(s): Chunyuan Song ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , Fang Li ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , Xiangyin Guo ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , Wenqiang Chen ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , Chen Dong ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , Jingjing Zhang ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , Jieyu Zhang ⁶ ^, ⁷ ^, ⁸ ^, ⁹ , Lianhui Wang ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵

Publication date (Electronic): 2019

Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry B

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

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Abstract

Gold nanostars were developed for cancer cell-targeted NIR-I/II SERS-imaging and PPTT.

Abstract

Cancer cell-targeted imaging and efficient therapy are vital for tumor diagnosis and treatments. However, the development of multifunctional plasmonic nanoparticles with high-performance SERS-imaging and NIR light-triggered plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) of cancer cells in both the first (NIR-I) and second (NIR-II) biological windows is still a big challenge. In the present work, gold nanostars which possess a broad NIR absorption band covering the NIR-I and NIR-II windows with good NIR SERS activity and photothermal effects were synthesized by a seed-mediated growth method, using gold chloride (HAuCl ₄), ascorbic acid (AA) and (1-hexadecyl) trimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) as growth solutions. The gold nanostars were further designed to be multifunctional nanoagents by labeling Raman molecules and then conjugating arginine–glycine–aspartic acid (RGD), which can serve as cancer cell-targeted SERS-imaging tags and photothermal nanoagents in both the NIR-I and NIR-II windows. The investigation of in vitro SERS-mapping and PPTT of the A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells indicates that the proposed multifunctional gold nanostars have great potential for a wide spectrum of light-mediated applications, such as optical imaging and image-guided phototherapy in both the NIR-I and NIR-II biological windows.

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Cancer cell imaging and photothermal therapy in the near-infrared region by using gold nanorods.

Xiaohua Huang, Ivan El-Sayed, Wei Qian … (2006)

Due to strong electric fields at the surface, the absorption and scattering of electromagnetic radiation by noble metal nanoparticles are strongly enhanced. These unique properties provide the potential of designing novel optically active reagents for simultaneous molecular imaging and photothermal cancer therapy. It is desirable to use agents that are active in the near-infrared (NIR) region of the radiation spectrum to minimize the light extinction by intrinsic chromophores in native tissue. Gold nanorods with suitable aspect ratios (length divided by width) can absorb and scatter strongly in the NIR region (650-900 nm). In the present work, we provide an in vitro demonstration of gold nanorods as novel contrast agents for both molecular imaging and photothermal cancer therapy. Nanorods are synthesized and conjugated to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) monoclonal antibodies and incubated in cell cultures with a nonmalignant epithelial cell line (HaCat) and two malignant oral epithelial cell lines (HOC 313 clone 8 and HSC 3). The anti-EGFR antibody-conjugated nanorods bind specifically to the surface of the malignant-type cells with a much higher affinity due to the overexpressed EGFR on the cytoplasmic membrane of the malignant cells. As a result of the strongly scattered red light from gold nanorods in dark field, observed using a laboratory microscope, the malignant cells are clearly visualized and diagnosed from the nonmalignant cells. It is found that, after exposure to continuous red laser at 800 nm, malignant cells require about half the laser energy to be photothermally destroyed than the nonmalignant cells. Thus, both efficient cancer cell diagnostics and selective photothermal therapy are realized at the same time.