Gold Nanostars for imaging and treatment of glioblastoma

Maddalena COLLINI, Università di Milano-Bicocca - NanoMiB (Centro Interdipartimentale di Nanomedicina)

The implementation of plasmonic gold nanoparticles, in particular gold nanostars (GNS), as imaging tools and for photothermal therapy treatments, is based on the intriguing optical properties of the nanoparticles. Surface propagating electromagnetic fields on the noble metal particles, known as surface plasmon resonances, depend on the shape of the nanoparticles and on their surface chemical properties and affect all the radiative properties such as absorption and scattering. Moreover, the absorbed light is readily converted to heat via a series of nonradiative processes. In this talk, the optical and photothermal properties of two kinds of GNS are discussed. GNS are synthesized by means of a seed-growth synthesis method. When using the zwitterionic surfactant Lauryl sulfobetaine (LSB) we obtain irregular sea urchin-like shapes whose surface can be easily decorated. When using  the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 (TX100), we are able to obtain nicely regular 5-branched GNS. The plasmon resonance of these nanoparticles can display multiple components whose extinction maximum be finely tuned in the region 650-1600 nm. Cell uptake and viability experiments have been performed on common (A549, HeLa, and HEK293 ) cells lines.

Preliminary data of the interaction between the surface modified GNS with the peptide mApoE and a laboratory model of the blood-brain barrier are reported in view of a forthcoming application of these modified GNS to glioblastoma therapy and imaging that exploit the strong two-photon luminescence of the GNS.

 
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