Multimodality Molecular Imaging-Guided Tumor Border Delineation and Photothermal Therapy Analysis Based on Graphene Oxide-Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles Chelated with Gd

Abstract

Tumor cell complete extinction is a crucial measure to evaluate antitumor efficacy. The difficulties in defining tumor margins and finding satellite metastases are the reason for tumor recurrence. A synergistic method based on multimodality molecular imaging needs to be developed so as to achieve the complete extinction of the tumor cells. In this study, graphene oxide conjugated with gold nanostars and chelated with Gd through 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N′,N,N′-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) (GO-AuNS-DOTA-Gd) were prepared to target HCC-LM3-fLuc cells and used for therapy. For subcutaneous tumor, multimodality molecular imaging including photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the related processing techniques were used to monitor the pharmacokinetics process of GO-AuNS-DOTA-Gd in order to determine the optimal time for treatment. For orthotopic tumor, MRI was used to delineate the tumor location and margin in vivo before treatment. Then handheld photoacoustic imaging system was used to determine the tumor location during the surgery and guided the photothermal therapy. The experiment result based on orthotopic tumor demonstrated that this synergistic method could effectively reduce tumor residual and satellite metastases by 85.71% compared with the routine photothermal method without handheld PAI guidance. These results indicate that this multimodality molecular imaging-guided photothermal therapy method is promising with a good prospect in clinical application.

Gold nanomaterials functionalised with gadolinium chelates and their application in multimodal imaging and therapy

“…91 Functionalisation of gold nanospheres with gadolinium chelates and near-infrared absorbers, such as indocyanine green and graphene oxide, has also proved to be an effective way of generating MRI/PTT agents. [92][93][94] These highly functionalised gold nanospheres demonstrated a PTT effect similar in efficacy to the nanorods, nanoshells and nanostars while bypassing the need for strict control over the nanoparticle morphology. The combination of a Gd unit and a near-infrared absorber provides the functionality required to identify the location of the assembly using MRI before initiating the photothermal effect.…”

An On-Demand pH-Sensitive Nanocluster for Cancer Treatment by Combining Photothermal Therapy and Chemotherapy

“…Near-infrared (NIR) laser-mediated photothermal therapy has attracted interest for melanoma therapy due to its deep tissue penetration and slight absorbance [12][13][14][15][16]. Photothermal therapy also has potential use for other tumors, since additional equipment such as the optic fiber may irradiate other parts of the body [17][18][19]. Among the various photothermal agents, gold nanorods (AuNRs) have been comprehensively researched due to their excellent biocompatibility and tunable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) properties for converting NIR light into local heat [20][21][22].…”