Folic acid conjugated PEG coated gold–iron oxide core–shell nanocomplex as a potential agent for targeted photothermal therapy of cancer

Figures & data

Scheme 1. Schematic illustration of the synthesis, characterization and photothermal effects of poly(ethylene glycol) coated gold@iron oxide core–shell nanoparticles conjugated with folic acid (FA–PEG–Au@IONP).

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of synthesis route of folate conjugated nanocomplex.

Figure 2. (a) TEM image (inset is the high-resolution TEM image), (b) size distribution histogram of TEM image, (c) dynamic light scattering (DLS) profile of the prepared nanocomplex (PdI: 0.24). (d) zeta potentials of various nanoparticles synthesized in this study.

Figure 3. Absorption spectra of (a) Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, (b) AuNPs, and (c) core–shell nanocomplex.

Figure 4. Magnetization curve of Au@IONPs and FA–PEG–Au@IONPs nanocomplex at 300 K.

Figure 5. FTIR spectra of Au@IONPs, PEG–Au@IONPs, folic acid, and FA–PEG–Au@IONPs.

Figure 6. Cell viability of both KB and MCF-7 cell lines receiving various treatments.

Figure 7. Flow cytometric analysis to determine death modes of KB and MCF-7 cells after receiving various treatments. Cells were double-stained with Annexin V-FITC and PI to detect early apoptosis and necrosis, respectively.

Table 1. Comparison between the results of this study and other publications related to nano-photo-thermal therapy of cancer cells.

	Reference	Nanoparticle; Size (nm)	Au Concentration (µg/ml); Incubation time (h)	Cell line; Origin	Laser Exposure [λ (nm); W/cm^2; min]	Celldeath(%)	Apoptosis (%)
Targeted nanoparticles	This study	FA–PEG–Au@IONPs; 60	50; 12	KB; Nasopharynx	808; 6; 10	62	47
				MCF-7; Breast		33	22
	Hu et al. [40]	FA–Au@IONPnanostars; 224	80; 4	HeLa; Cervix	808; 1; 5	60	–
	Neshasteriz et al. [35]	FA–AuNPs; 20	10; 6	KB; Nasopharynx	532; 0.5; 15	30	20
	Kirui et al. [26]	A33scFva–AuNPs; 28	500; 3	SW1222; Colorectal	808; 8; 6	68	38
				HT 29; Colorectal	808; 8; 6	10	–
	Lim et al. [7]	Anti-HER2-Au-Gd; >100	–	SKBR3; Breast	808; 4.3; –	55	40
	Mehdizadeh et al. [3]	FA–AuNR; 40 × 10	4; 6	KB; Nasopharynx	755; 25 × 10^3; 35 × 10^−5	56	37
Non-targeted nanoparticles	Hu et al. [37]	Au@IONP; 90	12.5; 12	HeLa; Cervix	808; 15; 10	50	–
	Chen et al. [6]	Gold nanostar-DOX; 58	12.5; 4	MDA-MB-231; Breast	765; 1; 10	60	Apoptosis was highly occurred
	Ma et al. [41]	Gold nanospike; 54	50; 24	KB; Nasophary	808; 2; 5	15	10
	Li et al. [42]	Gold nanorod; 44 × 16	50; –	A375; Melanoma	808; 1; 15	10	∼5

^aHumanized single chain antibody.

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