title: Investigation of Sub-100 nm Gold Nanoparticles for Laser-Induced Thermotherapy of Cancer.
abstract: Specialized gold nanostructures are of interest for the development of alternative treatment methods in medicine. Photothermal therapy combined with gene therapy that supports hyperthermia is proposed as a novel multimodal treatment method for prostate cancer. In this work, photothermal therapy using small (<100 nm) gold nanoparticles and near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation combined with gene therapy targeting heat shock protein (HSP) 27 was investigated. A series of nanoparticles: nanoshells, nanorods, core-corona nanoparticles and hollow nanoshells, were synthesized and examined to compare their properties and suitability as photothermal agents.In vitrocellular uptake studies of the nanoparticles into prostate cancer cell lines were performed using light scattering microscopy to provide three-dimensional (3D) imaging. Small gold nanoshells (40 nm) displayed the greatest cellular uptake of the nanoparticles studied and were used in photothermal studies. Photothermal treatment of the cancer cell lines with laser irradiation at 800 nm at 4 W on a spot size of 4 mm (FWHM) for 6 or 10 min resulted in an increase in temperature of ~12 °C and decrease in cell viability of up to 70%. However,in vitrostudies combining photothermal therapy with gene therapy targeting HSP27 did not result in additional sensitization of the prostate cancer cells to hyperthermia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada. leungj1@mail.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Jennifer P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada. sherryshwu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada. kcchou@chem.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Keng C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada. rsignorell@ethz.ch.|ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Physical Chemistry, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, CH-8093, Zürich, Switzerland. rsignorell@ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Signorell
keywords: gene therapy; gold core-corona nanoparticles; gold nanorods; hollow gold nanoshells; light scattering microscopy; prostate cancer