The metastasis of cancer cells is a principal cause of
morbidity
and mortality in cancer. The combination of a cytosensor and photothermal
therapy (PTT) cannot completely eliminate cancer cells at one time.
Hence, this study aimed to design a localized surface plasmonic resonance
(LSPR)-based aptasensor for a circuit of cytosensing–PTT (COCP).
This was achieved by coating a novel sandwich layer of polydopamine/gold
nanoparticles/polydopamine (PDA/AuNPs/PDA) around the Ω-shaped
fiber-optic (Ω-FO). The short-wavelength peak of the sandwich
layer with strong resonance exhibited a high refractive index sensitivity
(RIS). The modification with the T-shaped aptamer endowed FO-LSPR
with unique characteristics of time-dependent sensitivity enhancement
behavior for a sensitive cytosensor with the lowest limit of detection
(LOD) of 13 cells/mL. The long-wavelength resonance peak in the sandwich
layer appears in the near-infrared region. Hence, the rate of increased
localized temperature of FO-LSPR was 160 and 30-fold higher than that
of the bare and PDA-coated FO, indicating strong photothermal conversion
efficiency. After considering the localized temperature distribution
around the FO under the flow environment, the FO-LSPR-enabled aptasensor
killed 77.6% of cancer cells in simulated blood circulation after
five cycles of COCP. The FO-LSPR-enabled aptasensor improved the efficiency
of the cytosensor and PTT to effectively kill cancer cells, showing
significant potential for application in inhibiting cancer metastasis.