Department of Immunology and Nano-Medicine, Institute of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, Centre for Personalized Nanomedicine, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA.
Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), The James H Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 22;10(1):10115. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66706-2.
Smart multifunctional nanoparticles with magnetic and plasmonic properties assembled on a single nanoplatform are promising for various biomedical applications. Owing to their expanding imaging and therapeutic capabilities in response to external stimuli, they have been explored for on-demand drug delivery, image-guided drug delivery, and simultaneous diagnostic and therapeutic (i.e. theranostic) applications. In this study, we engineered nanoparticles with unique morphology consisting of a superparamagnetic iron oxide core and star-shaped plasmonic shell with high-aspect-ratio gold branches. Strong magnetic and near-infrared (NIR)-responsive plasmonic properties of the engineered nanostars enabled multimodal quantitative imaging combining advantageous functions of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic particle imaging (MPI), photoacoustic imaging (PAI), and image-guided drug delivery with a tunable drug release capacity. The model drug molecules bound to the core-shell nanostars were released upon NIR illumination due to the heat generation from the core-shell nanostars. Moreover, our simulation analysis showed that the specific design of the core-shell nanostars demonstrated a pronounced multipolar plasmon resonance, which has not been observed in previous reports. The multimodal imaging and NIR-triggered drug release capabilities of the proposed nanoplatform verify their potential for precise and controllable drug release with different applications in personalized medicine.
具有磁性和等离子体特性的智能多功能纳米粒子组装在单个纳米平台上，对于各种生物医学应用具有广阔的前景。由于其在对外界刺激的响应中成像和治疗能力不断增强，因此被探索用于按需药物输送、图像引导药物输送以及同时进行诊断和治疗（即治疗学）的应用。在这项研究中，我们设计了具有独特形态的纳米粒子，由超顺磁性氧化铁核和具有高纵横比金支的星形等离子体壳组成。所设计的纳米星具有强磁性和近红外（NIR）响应等离子体特性，能够进行多模式定量成像，结合磁共振成像（MRI）、磁粒子成像（MPI）、光声成像（PAI）和图像引导药物输送的优势功能，具有可调药物释放能力。由于核壳纳米星产生的热量，结合到核壳纳米星上的模型药物分子在 NIR 照射下释放。此外，我们的模拟分析表明，核壳纳米星的特定设计表现出明显的多极等离子体共振，这在以前的报道中尚未观察到。所提出的纳米平台的多模式成像和 NIR 触发药物释放能力验证了其在个性化医疗中具有不同应用的精确和可控药物释放的潜力。
