Chain-like gold nanoparticle clusters for multimodal photoacoustic microscopy and optical coherence tomography enhanced molecular imaging

Abstract

Colloidal gold nanoparticles (GNPs) serve as promising contrast agents in photoacoustic (PA) imaging, yet their utility is limited due to their absorption peak in the visible window overlapping with that of hemoglobin. To overcome such limitation, this report describes an ultrapure chain-like gold nanoparticle (CGNP) clusters with a redshift peak wavelength at 650 nm. The synthesized CGNP show an excellent biocompatibility and photostability. These nanoparticles are conjugated with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptides (CGNP clusters-RGD) and validated in 12 living rabbits to perform multimodal photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for visualization of newly developed blood vessels in the sub-retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) space of the retina, named choroidal neovascularization (CNV). The PAM system can achieve a 3D PAM image via a raster scan of 256 × 256 pixels within a time duration of 65 s. Intravenous injection of CGNP clusters-RGD bound to CNV and resulted in up to a 17-fold increase in PAM signal and 176% increase in OCT signal. Histology indicates that CGNP clusters could disassemble, which may facilitate its clearance from the body.

Hyaluronate-Thiol Passivation Enhances Gold Nanoparticle Peritumoral Distribution When Administered Intratumorally in Lung Cancer

“…To overcome these challenges, more investigations are needed to identify novel successful strategies for site-directed drug localization within a solid tumor to target and understand the body’s response toward the introduced material [ 12 ]. In this context, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been investigated as anti-cancer drug cargo carriers, whereby their anti-angiogenic and photothermal properties can be used to potentialize drug action [ 13 , 14 ], and their diffusive nature exploited for multimodal synergistic diagnosis and therapy [ 15 , 16 ]. In addition, GNPs are of great interest in the field of nanotherapeutics because they are considered nontoxic, hydrophilic, have tailorable charge and size, and have modifiable surface chemistry.…”

DNA-functionalized Gold Nanorods for Targeted Triple-modal Optical Imaging and Photothermal Therapy of Triple-negative Breast Cancer

“…The DNA-based strategy developed in this study would be particularly important for creating multimodal nanoprobes with renally excretable Au nanoclusters for achieving better chances of clinical translation. [45][46][47]…”

Laser-Ablative Synthesis of Ultrapure Magneto-Plasmonic Core-Satellite Nanocomposites for Biomedical Applications

“…Gold (Au) NPs presents the most explored plasmonic nanomaterial [7] due to its chemical stability, biocompatibility [8], and the availability of simple surface functionalization protocols via Nanomaterials 2022, 12, 649 2 of 13 thiol chemistry [9]. Au NPs were successfully used in therapeutic modalities, including photo-induced hyperthermia [10] and in diagnostic modalities, including optical coherence tomography [11], photoacoustic tomography [12], and confocal reflectance microscopy [13]. Magnetic NPs represent another appealing class of nanomaterials for biomedical applications [14].…”