Near Infrared Resonant Gold / Gold Sulfide Nanoparticles as a Photothermal Cancer Therapeutic Agent

摘要

The development and optimization of near-infrared (nIR) absorbing nanoparticles for use as photothermal cancer therapeutic agents has been ongoing. We have previously reported on larger layered gold / silica nanoshells (~140 nm) for combined therapy and imaging applications. This work exploits the properties of smaller gold / gold sulfide (GGS) nIR absorbing nanoparticles (~35–55 nm) that provide higher absorption (98% absorption & 2% scattering for GGS versus 70% absorption & 30% scattering for gold/silica nanoshells) as well as potentially better tumor penetration. In this work we demonstrate ability to ablate tumor cells in vitro, and efficacy for photothermal cancer therapy, where in an in vivo model we show significantly increased long-term, tumor-free survival. Further, enhanced circulation and bio-distribution is observed in vivo. This class of nIR absorbing nanoparticles has potential to improve upon photothermal tumor ablation for cancer therapy.