title: Multifunctional gold nanostars for molecular imaging and cancer therapy.
abstract: Plasmonics-active gold nanoparticles offer excellent potential in molecular imaging and cancer therapy. Among them, gold nanostars (AuNS) exhibit cross-platform flexibility as multimodal contrast agents for macroscopic X-ray computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), as well as nanoprobes for photoacoustic tomography (PAT), two-photon photoluminescence (TPL), and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Their surfactant-free surface enables versatile functionalization to enhance cancer targeting, and allow triggered drug release. AuNS can also be used as an efficient platform for drug carrying, photothermal therapy, and photodynamic therapy (PDT). This review paper presents the latest progress regarding AuNS as a promising nanoplatform for cancer nanotheranostics. Future research directions with AuNS for biomedical applications will also be discussed.
authors: Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Department of Chemistry, Duke University Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Hsiangkuo
authors: H
authors: Yuan
authors: Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Andrew M
authors: AM
authors: Fales
authors: Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Janna K
authors: JK
authors: Register
authors: Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University Durham, NC, USA ; Department of Chemistry, Duke University Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Tuan
authors: T
authors: Vo-Dinh
keywords: cancer imaging; cancer therapy; gold nanostars; multifunctional; plasmonics