Gold nanoparticles-decorated silicon nanowires as highly efficient near-infrared hyperthermia agents for cancer cells destruction.

Su, Yuanyuan; Wei, Xinpan; Peng, Fei; Zhong, Yiling; Lu, Yimei; Su, Shao; Xu, Tingting; Lee, Shuit-Tong et al. · Nano Lett · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Near-infrared (NIR) hyperthermia agents are of current interest because they hold great promise as highly efficacious tools for cancer photothermal therapy. Although various agents have been reported, a practical NIR hyperthermia agent is yet unavailable. Here, we present the first demonstration that silicon nanomaterials-based NIR hyperthermia agent, that is, gold nanoparticles-decorated silicon nanowires (AuNPs@SiNWs), is capable of high-efficiency destruction of cancer cells. AuNPs@SiNWs are found to possess strong optical absorbance in the NIR spectral window, producing sufficient heat under NIR irradiation. AuNPs@SiNWs are explored as novel NIR hyperthermia agents for photothermal ablation of tumor cells. In particular, three different cancer cells treated with AuNPs@SiNWs were completely destructed within 3 min of NIR irradiation, demonstrating the exciting potential of AuNPs@SiNWs for NIR hyperthermia agents.

Medical subject headings