Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 22, 2026
Plasmonic Photothermal Cancer Therapy: Nanoparticle-embedded Tumor-tissue-mimicking Phantoms for Visualizing Photothermal Temperature Distribution
Published on: May 9, 2025
Bioproduction of gold nanoparticles for photothermal therapy
Catarina Oliveira Silva1, Patrícia Rijo1,2, Jesús Molpeceres3
1CBiOS, Research Center for Biosciences & Health Technologies, Universidade Lusófona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal.
Background:
Photothermal response of plasmonic nanomaterials can be utilized for a number of therapeutic applications such as the ablation of solid tumors.
Methods & Results:
Gold nanoparticles were prepared using different methods. After optimization, we applied an aqueous plant extract as the reducing and capping agent of gold and maximized the near-infrared absorption (650-900 nm). Resultant nanoparticles showed good biocompatibility when tested in vitro in human keratinocytes and yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Gold nanoparticles were easily activated by controlled temperature with an ultrasonic water bath and application of a pulsed laser.
Conclusion:
These gold nanoparticles can be synthesized with reproducibility, modified with seemingly limitless chemical functional groups, with adequate controlled optical properties for laser phototherapy of tumors and targeted drug delivery.
