Dendrimer‐Stabilized Gold Nanostars as a Multifunctional Theranostic Nanoplatform for CT Imaging, Photothermal Therapy, and Gene Silencing of Tumors. Issue 24 (30th November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wei, Ping; Chen, Jingwen; Hu, Yong; Li, Xin; Wang, Han; Shen, Mingwu; Shi, Xiangyang
• Is Part Of: Advanced healthcare materials. Volume 5:Issue 24(2016)
• Page Start: 3203
• Page End: 3213
• Publication Date: 2016-11-30
• Subjects: dendrimers -- gene silencing -- gold nanostars -- theranostics -- tumors; Biomedical materials -- Periodicals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201600923
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2192-2640

Abstract

Abstract : Development of versatile nanomaterials combining diagnostic and therapeutic functionalities within one single nanoplatform is extremely important for tumor theranostics. In this work, the authors report the synthesis of a gold nanostar (Au NS)‐based theranostic platform stabilized with cyclic arginine‐glycine‐aspartic (Arg‐Gly‐Asp, RGD) peptide‐modified amine‐terminated generation 3 poly(amidoamine) dendrimers. The formed RGD‐modified dendrimer‐stabilized Au NSs (RGD‐Au DSNSs) are used as a gene delivery vector to complex small interfering RNA (siRNA) for computed tomography (CT) imaging, thermal imaging, photothermal therapy (PTT), and gene therapy of tumors. The results show that the RGD‐Au DSNSs are able to compact vascular endothelial growth factor siRNA and specifically deliver siRNA to cancer cells overexpressing αv β3 integrin. Under near‐infrared laser irradiation, the viability of cancer cells is only 20.2% after incubation with the RGD‐Au DSNS/siRNA polyplexes, which is much lower than that of cells after single PTT or gene therapy treatment. Furthermore, in vivo results show that the RGD‐Au DSNS/siRNA polyplexes enable tumor CT imaging, thermal imaging, PTT, and gene therapy after intratumoral injection. These results indicate that the developed multifunctional nanoconstruct is a promising platform for tumor imaging and combinational PTT and gene therapy. Abstract : Arginine‐glycine‐aspartic (RGD)‐modified dendrimer‐stabilized gold nanostars (RGD‐Au DSNSs) can be synthesized by virtue of the integration of seed‐mediated Au growth and dendrimer conjugation chemistry. The formed RGD‐Au DSNSs can be used as a vector for specific small interfering RNA delivery to cancer cells, and as a platform for computed tomography/thermal imaging and combinational photothermal therapy and gene therapy of tumors.