title: Synthesis and characterization of NIR-responsive Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogels as vehicles for delivery of photodynamic therapy agents.
abstract: A near-infrared (NIR)-responsive Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel was synthesized in two steps, growing a PEGMA monolayer on the surface of gold nanorods (AuNRs), followed by in situ polymerization and cross-linking of N-iso-propylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and poly-(ethylene glycol)-methacrylate (PEGMA). The AuNRs and Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The lower critical solution temperature of the Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel could be tuned by changing the molar ratio of NIPAAm/PEGMA. The NIR-mediated drug release behavior of the Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel was studied with zinc phthalocyanines (ZnPc4) as a drug model. It was also demonstrated that the loaded ZnPc4 could keep the capability of generating singlet oxygen, and the in vitro study showed a great photodynamic therapy (PDT) effect on Hela cells. It thus indicated the potential of this Aurod@pNIPAAm-PEGMA nanogel for application as a drug carrier in PDT, which might make contributions to oncotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Research Center of Biomedical Engineering, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China. renlei@xmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: Cai-Ding
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Xin-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Dong-Hui
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xue-Bin
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: An-Qi
authors.initials: AQ
authors.lastname: Yang