title: Cooperative Nanoparticle System for Photothermal Tumor Treatment without Skin Damage.
abstract: How to ablate tumors without using skin-harmful high laser irradiance remains an ongoing challenge for photothermal therapy. Here, we achieve this with a cooperative nanosystem consisting of gold nanocage (AuNC) "activator" and a cationic mammalian-membrane-disruptive peptide, cTL, as photothermal antenna and anticancer agent, respectively. Specifically, this nanosystem is prepared by grafting cTL onto AuNC via a Au-S bond, followed by attachment of thiolated polyethylene glycol (PEG) for stealth effects. Upon NIR irradiation at skin-permissible dosage, the resulting cTL/PEG-AuNC nanoparticle effectively ablates both irradiated and nonirradiated cancer cells, likely owing to cTL being responsively unleashed by intracellular thiols exposed to cTL/PEG-AuNC via membrane damage initiated by AuNC's photothermal effects and deteriorated by the as-released cTL. When administered systematically in a mouse model, cTL/PEG-AuNC populates tumors through their porous vessels and effectively destroys them without damaging skin.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, ‡School of Chemistry and Materials Science, §Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and ∥CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Gang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, ‡School of Chemistry and Materials Science, §Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and ∥CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, ‡School of Chemistry and Materials Science, §Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and ∥CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, ‡School of Chemistry and Materials Science, §Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and ∥CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, ‡School of Chemistry and Materials Science, §Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and ∥CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, ‡School of Chemistry and Materials Science, §Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and ∥CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, ‡School of Chemistry and Materials Science, §Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and ∥CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010455:Peptides; D010789:Phototherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D006046:Gold
keywords: cancer; membrane; nanomedicine; peptide; therapy