Flexible Photothermal Assemblies with Tunable Gold Patterns for Improved Imaging-Guided Synergistic Therapy

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Self-assembly of gold nanoparticles offers potential for advanced photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and photothermal therapy (PTT).
• Effective cancer diagnosis and therapy require precise imaging and targeted treatment modalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct tunable gold nanoparticle assemblies on PLGA spheres for enhanced PAI and PTT.
• To investigate the formation mechanisms and influencing factors of these photothermal assemblies.
• To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of these assemblies in cancer treatment.

Main Methods:

• Emulsion-confined and polymer-directed self-assembly strategies were used to create gold nanoparticle patterns (arcs, rings, ribbons, vesicles) on PLGA spheres.
• The formation mechanism involving emulsion structure and amphiphilic block copolymer migration was studied.
• Hyaluronic acid-modified R-PLGA-Au (RPA) assemblies were characterized for their photothermal performance under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation.

Main Results:

• Versatile photothermal assemblies were successfully constructed with tunable patterns.
• RPA assemblies demonstrated outstanding photothermal performance due to strong plasmonic coupling.
• NIR laser irradiation triggered secondary assembly, leading to superstructure formation and prolonged tumor residence time.
• PAI enabled real-time monitoring of therapeutic processes with enhanced signals.
• PTT-enhanced chemotherapy resulted in significant synergistic antitumor effects.

Conclusions:

• A facile strategy for constructing flexible photothermal assemblies with tunable patterns was developed.
• These assemblies show promise for imaging-guided synergistic cancer therapy.
• The study highlights the potential of self-assembled gold nanoparticles in PAI and PTT applications.