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Updated: May 19, 2026
Preparation and Photoacoustic Analysis of Cellular Vehicles Containing Gold Nanorods
Published on: May 2, 2016
Polydopamine-enabled surface functionalization of gold nanorods for cancer cell-targeted imaging and photothermal
Kvar C L Black1, Ji Yi, José G Rivera
1Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Aim:
A novel biomimetic strategy was employed for presenting antibodies on gold nanorods (NRs) to target growth factor receptors on cancer cells for use in photothermal therapy.
Materials & Methods:
Polydopamine (PD) was polymerized onto gold NRs, and EGF receptor antibodies (anti-EGFR) were immobilized onto the layer. Cell-binding affinity and light-activated cell death of cancer cells incubated with anti-EGFR-PD-NRs were quantified by optical imaging.
Results:
PD was deposited onto gold NRs, and antibodies were bound to PD-coated NRs. Anti-EGFR-PD-NRs were stable in media, and were specifically bound to EGFR-overexpressing cells. Illumination of cells targeted with anti-EGFR-PD-NRs enhanced cell death compared with nonirradiated controls and cells treated with antibody-free NRs.
Conclusion:
PD facilitates the surface functionalization of gold NRs with biomolecules, allowing cell targeting and photothermal killing of cancer cells. PD can potentially coat a large variety of nanoparticles with targeting ligands as a strategy for biofunctionalization of diagnostic and therapeutic nanoparticles.
