Targeting gold nanocages to cancer cells for photothermal destruction and drug delivery

Abstract

Importance of the field: Plasmonic nanoparticles provide a new route to treat cancer owing to their ability to convert light into heat effectively for photothermal destruction. Combined with the targeting mechanisms possible with nanoscale materials, this technique has the potential to enable highly targeted therapies to minimize undesirable side effects.

Areas covered in this review: This review discusses the use of gold nanocages, a new class of plasmonic nanoparticles, for photothermal applications. Gold nanocages are hollow, porous structures with compact sizes and precisely controlled plasmonic properties and surface chemistry. Also, a recent study of gold nanocages as drug-release carriers by externally controlling the opening and closing of the pores with a smart polymer whose conformation changes at a specific temperature is discussed. Release of the contents can be initiated remotely through near-infrared irradiation. Together, these topics cover the years from 2002 to 2009.

What the reader will gain: The reader will be exposed to different aspects of gold nanocages, including synthesis, surface modification, in vitro studies, intial in vivo data and perspectives on future studies.

Take home message: Gold nanocages are a promising platform for cancer therapy in terms of both photothermal destruction and drug delivery.

Keywords::

• drug delivery
• nanomedicine
• nanotechnology
• photothermal therapy

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a Director's Pioneer Award (Grant 5DP1OD000798) from NIH, a fellowship from David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a DARPA-DURINT subcontract from Harvard University, research grants from NSF and National Institutes of Health (NIH), and start-up funds from Washington University in St Louis (to Y Xia). Further support came from a Pilot Grants from Washington University Molecular Imaging Center and the Alvin J Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine (to J Chen). Siteman is supported by Grant Number P30 CA91842 from the National Cancer Institute, a component of the NIH. The two-photon imaging was supported by the Alafi Neuroimaging Laboratory, the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, and NIH Neuroscience Blueprint Center Core Grant P30 NS057105 to Washington University. Y Xia is an Alfred P Sloan Research Fellow (2000 – 02) and a Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar (2002 – 07). Part of the work was performed at the Nano Research Facility (NRF), a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), which is supported by the NSF under award ECS-0335765. NRF is part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Washington University in St Louis.

Notes

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