title: A silica-gold-silica nanocomposite for photothermal therapy in the near-infrared region.
abstract: The focus of this work was to study the photothermal effect of a silica-gold-silica nanocomposite in the near-infrared (NIR) region. The NIR region is considered a biological window because living cells and tissues have low light scattering and adsorption in this region. Both a laser source and a tungsten lamp source were used in this study. The critical parameters for photothermal efficiency, including nancomposite concentration and irradiation time, were evaluated. The penetration of the nanocomposites into mammalian cells was also investigated. With laser irradiation, the nanocomposite showed a significant photothermal effect in the NIR region. The maximal temperature that the nanocomposites could reach was 51.9 °C. Vybrant assays showed that 5 min of laser irradiation along with the nanocomposite caused target cell death through both apoptosis (59%) and necrosis (31%), while controls showed minimal effects. The nanocomposite may be a potential light-absorbing agent for NIR fluorescence-guided photothermal therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and ‡Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of North Dakota , Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202, United States.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Shuping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Julia Xiaojun
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000528:radiation effects; D002460:Cell Line; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects; D051379:Mice; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D010789:Phototherapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D006046:Gold; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: fluorescence; gold nanoshell; near-infrared; photothermal therapy