Light-activated gold nanorods for effective therapy of venous malformation

Gold nanorods have been studied extensively in the field of tumor therapy but have not been explored in the treatment of venous malformation (VM), which is a common vascular disease in clinic practice lacking an effective therapeutic approach. Herein we reported a nanoplatform of CD31 antibody-conjugated gold nanorods for the photothermal therapy of venous malformation. We immobilized CD31 antibodies on gold nanorods using standard 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC)/N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide sodium (NHS) amine coupling strategies. Besides, a VM xenograft model suitable for testing therapeutic efficacy was established by isolating and culturing VM patient endothelial cells. In vitro experiments indicated that anti-CD31 gold nanorods (GNRs) combined with photothermal therapy (PTT) contributed to the suppression of proliferation and activation of the apoptosis pathway. For in vivo experiments, anti-CD31 GNRs were locally injected into VM xenograft models followed by near infrared (NIR) 808 ​nm laser irradiation. Notably, VM on the mice was destroyed and absorbed. The anti-CD31 GNRs nanoplatform may serve as a new strategy for the treatment of VM which is of good biosafety and high value of applications.