A facile synthesis of novel self-assembled gold nanorods designed for near-infrared imaging.
Molecular imaging techniques now allow recognition of early biochemical, physiological, and anatomical changes before manifestation of gross pathological changes. Photoacoustic imaging represents a novel non-ionizing detection technique that combines the advantages of optical and ultrasound imaging. Noninvasive photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging in combination with nanoparticle-based contrast agents show promise in improved detection and diagnosis of cardiovascular and cancer related diseases. In this report, a novel strategy is introduced to achieve self-assembled colloidal gold nanorods, which are constrained to the vasculature. Gold nanorods (2-4 nm) were incorporated into the core of self-assembled lipid-encapsulated nanoparticles (sGNR) (approximately 130 nm), providing more than hundreds of gold atoms per nanoparticle of 20% colloid suspension. The physico-chemical characterization in solution and anhydrous state with analytical techniques demonstrated that the particles were spherical and highly mono dispersed. In addition to the synthesis and characterization, sensitive near-infrared photoacoustic detection was impressively demonstrated in vitro.
C-TRAIN and Division of Cardiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA.
Dipanjan
D
Pan
Manojit
M
Pramanik
Angana
A
Senpan
Samuel A
SA
Wickline
Lihong V
LV
Wang
Gregory M
GM
Lanza
D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008055:Lipids; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008958:Models, Molecular; D058726:Nanoconjugates; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D014054:Tomography / Q000379:methods*
D003287:Contrast Media; D008055:Lipids; D058726:Nanoconjugates; D006046:Gold