title: Aspect ratios of gold nanoshell capsules mediated melanoma ablation by synergistic photothermal therapy and chemotherapy.
abstract: Nanomaterial-mediated photothermal therapy has shown great potential to fulfill the unmet medical needs for treatment of tumors. In this study, a rod-like gold nanoshell capsule, which can offer both photothermal therapy and chemotherapy, is synthesized and applied for the treatment of melanoma. This nano-platform is made by developing a gold nanoshell on rod-like mesoporous silica nanoparticles with different aspect ratios, and it was found that the aspect ratio significantly influenced the cellular uptake and tumor distribution of the nanoparticles. The gold nanoshell capsules with a moderate aspect ratio are found to be efficiently taken up by melanoma cells and are able to penetrate tumor tissues, resulting in the effective ablation of highly malignant melanomas when used along with mild laser irradiation and a single treatment. This study demonstrates that the optimization of the aspect ratio is indispensable to further development of this nanoplatform for antitumor therapy.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The combination of hyperthermia and chemotherapeutic agents has been investigated as a new approach for the treatment of malignant melanoma. It appears that the aspect ratio may play an important role in the treatment efficacy. In this article, the authors studied how the AR influenced the cellular uptake and the optimal AR for antitumor effects.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China; Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ruifang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China. Electronic address: liyy@nanoctr.cn.
authors.forename: Yiye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Controllable Preparation and Application of Nanomaterials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huiyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yuliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China. Electronic address: niegj@nanoctr.cn.
authors.forename: Guangjun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D000077143:Docetaxel; D005260:Female; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced; D008546:Melanoma, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D057145:Nanoshells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010789:Phototherapy; D043823:Taxoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D043823:Taxoids; D000077143:Docetaxel; D006046:Gold
keywords: Gold nanoshell capsule; Melanoma; Photothermal therapy; Synergistic therapy; Tumor imaging