Abstract
In this experiment, we successfully developed nanocarriers in the form of gold nanoflowers coated with two layers of silica for the purposes of drug loading and NIR (near-infrared) photothermal therapy for the treatment of oral cancer. The gold nanoflowers converted NIR laser energy into heat energy. The cores were coated with a thin silica layer (AuNFs@SiO2) to protect the gold nanoflowers from intraparticle ripening. The second layer was mesoporous silica (AuNFs@SiO2@mSiO2), which acted as a nanocarrier for anticancer drug (DOX) loads. The mean effective diameter of the nanoparticles was approximately 150–200 nm, whereas the peak absorption of the AuNFs was 684 nm. After the AuNFs were encapsulated by the silica shells, the plasmonic absorption peak of AuNFs@SiO2 and AuNFs@SiO2@mSiO2 exhibited a red shift to 718 nm. When exposed to an 808 nm NIR laser, these crystals showed an obvious photothermal conversion in the NIR region and a highly efficient release of DOX. Biocompatibility was assessed in vitro using Cell Counting Kit-8 assays, and the results showed that the nanocarriers induced no obvious cytotoxicity. This nanomaterial could be considered a new type of material that shows promising potential for photothermal-chemotherapy against malignant tumours, including those of oral cancers.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 81372900) and the Science and Technology Development Plan of Jilin Province of China (Grant No: 20110708 and 201401010 55JC). The authors are grateful to the Key Laboratory of Surface and Interface Chemistry of Jilin Province, College of Chemistry, Ms. Xiaohui Ji, Ms. Lili Zhao and Ms. Zhenzhen Huang for their assistance in preparing the nanocarrier materials.
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Song, W., Gong, J., Wang, Y. et al. Gold nanoflowers with mesoporous silica as “nanocarriers” for drug release and photothermal therapy in the treatment of oral cancer using near-infrared (NIR) laser light. J Nanopart Res 18, 101 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3377-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3377-2