Luminescent Gold Nanorod to enhance the NIR emission of Photosensitizer for Targeted Cancer Imaging and Dual therapy: Experimental and Theoretical Approach.

The strong plasmon absorption in the near‐infrared (NIR) region render gold nano rods (GNR) amenable for biomedical applications, particularly for photo‐thermal therapy. However, these nanostructures have not been explored for their imaging potential because of their weak emission profile. In this study, the weak fluorescence emission of GNR is tuned to match with the absorption of a photosensitizer molecule (PS), and the energy transfer from GNR to PS enhances emission profile of GNR‐PS combination. GNR complexes generally quench the fluorescence emission of nearby chromophores. However, in the present study, through a competition of energy transfer, the complex retains or rather enhances the fluorescence. The excitation dependent energy transfer has been explained experimentally and theoretically using DFT calculations and CIE chromaticity diagram and power spectrum. The final GNR‐PS complex modified for tumor specificity serves as an excellent organ specific theranostic probe for bioimaging and dual modal therapy, both in vitro and in vivo. Principal component analysis designates photodynamic therapy as a better candidate than the photothermal therapy for long term efficacy, in vivo.

Citation

Nair RV, Nair LV, Govindachar DM, Santhakumar H, Nazeer SS, Rekha CR, Shenoy SJ, Periyasamy G, Jayasree RS.Luminescent Gold Nanorod to enhance the NIR emission of Photosensitizer for Targeted Cancer Imaging and Dual therapy: Experimental and Theoretical Approach. Chemistry:A European Journal. 2019.