Release of photoactivatable drugs from plasmonic nanoparticles for targeted cancer therapy

Chemotherapy is an important modality in cancer treatment. The major challenges of recent works are to improve drug loading, increase selectivity to target cells, and control the precise release of drugs. In the present study, we devised a smart drug carrier, an aptamer/hairpin DNA-gold nanoparticle (apt/hp-Au NP) conjugate for targeted delivery of drugs. The DNA aptamer sgc8c, which possesses strong affinity for protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7), abundantly expressed on the surface of CCRF-CEM (T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia) cells, was assembled onto the surface of Au NPs. The repeated d(CGATCG) sequence within the hpDNA on the Au NP surface was used for the loading of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox). After optimization, 25 (±3) sgc8c and 305 (±9) Dox molecules were successfully loaded onto the AuNP (13 nm) surface. The binding capability of apt/hp-Au NP conjugates toward targeted cells was investigated by flow cytometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy, which showed that the aptamer-functionalized nanoconjugates were selective for targeting of cancer cells. A cell toxicity (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, MTT) assay also demonstrated that these drug-loaded nanoconjugates could kill targeted cancer cells more effectively than nontargeted (control) cells. Most importantly, when illuminated with plasmon-resonant light (532 nm), Dox:nanoconjugates displayed enhanced antitumor efficacy with few side effects. The marked release of Dox from these nanoconjugates in living cells was monitored by increasing fluorescence signals upon light exposure. In vitro studies confirmed that aptamer-functionalized hp-Au NPs can be used as carriers for targeted delivery of drugs with remote control capability by laser irradiation with high spatial/temporal resolution.