Hollow gold nanoshells modified with PEG: synthesis and application as photothermal agents

Abstract

The main purpose of the presented studies were both cytotoxicity studies of the developed hollow gold nanoshells and examination of their applications as photothermal agents. We decided to used hollow gold nanoshells as photoactive agents in photothermal therapy (PTT) due to their suitable optical properties, which are essential for this kind of tumor therapy. Nanoparticles were obtained by the galvanic replacement method. We confirmed excellent optical and photothermal properties of surface modified (with PEG-COOH and PEG-NH2) nanoparticles. Then cytotoxicity studies were conducted on two selected human cell lines: A375 (malignant melanoma) and HaCaT (aneuploid keratinocyte). Cells viability was evaluated using MTT test. Finally, we evaluated effectiveness of PTT based on AuNPs-PEG-COOH or AuNPs-PEG-NH2.