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Targetable Gold Nanorods for Epithelial Cancer Therapy Guided by Near‐IR Absorption Imaging
Author(s) -
Choi Jihye,
Yang Jaemoon,
Bang Doyeon,
Park Joseph,
Suh JinSuck,
Huh YongMin,
Haam Seungjoo
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201101789
Subject(s) - photothermal therapy , biocompatibility , nanorod , polyethylene glycol , nanotechnology , peg ratio , materials science , colloidal gold , in vivo , conjugated system , nanoparticle , chemistry , biophysics , polymer , organic chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , finance , economics , metallurgy , composite material , biology
Abstract Well‐designed nanoparticle‐mediated, image‐guided cancer therapy has attracted interest for increasing the efficacy of cancer treatment. A new class of smart theragnostic nanoprobes employing cetuximab (CET)‐conjugated polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated gold nanorods (CET‐PGNRs) is presented; these nanoprobes target epithelial cancer cells using near‐infrared light. The cetyltrimethylammonium bromide bilayer on GNRs is replaced with heterobifunctional PEG (COOH‐PEG‐SH) to serve as a biocompatible stabilizer and to increase specificity. The carboxylated GNRs are further functionalized with CET using 1‐ethyl‐3‐(3‐dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/ N ‐hydroxysuccinimide (EDC‐NHS) chemistry. To assess the potential of such GNRs, their optical properties, biocompatibility, colloidal stability, in vitro/in vivo binding affinities for cancer cells, absorption imaging, and photothermal therapy effects are investigated. CET‐PGNRs exhibit excellent tumor targeting ability and strong potential for simultaneous absorption imaging and photothermal ablation of epithelial cancer cells.