It is highly desirable to develop a therapeutic, observable nanoparticle complex for specific targeting in cancer therapy. Growth hormone (GH) and its antagonists have been explored as cancer cell-targeting molecules for both imaging and therapeutic applications. In this study, a low toxicity, biocompatible, therapeutic, and observable GH-nanoparticle complex for specifically targeting growth hormone receptor (GHR) in cancer cells was synthesized by conjugating GH with green fluorescence protein and carboxylated nanodiamond. Moreover, we have shown that this complex can be triggered by laser irradiation to create a "nanoblast" and induce cell death in the A549 non-small-cell lung cancer cell line via the apoptotic pathway. This laser-mediated, cancer-targeting platform can be widely used in cancer therapy.

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media; this observation is supported experimentally and through modeling of the heat equation. Within the context of biological and medical applications, gold-coated liposomes may enable the spectral, spatial, and temporal control of release of multiple agents from liposome carriers by means of a physiologically safe light-delivery method.