A Plasmonic Supramolecular Nanohybrid as a Contrast Agent for Site‐Selective Computed Tomography Imaging of Tumor
Anivind Kaur Bindra, Sivaramapanicker Sreejith, Rajendra Prasad, Mahadeo Gorain, Rijil Thomas, Deblin Jana, Mui Hoon Nai, Dongdong Wang, Abhimanyu Tharayil, Gopal C. Kundu, Rohit Srivastava, Sabu Thomas, Chwee Teck Lim, Yanli Zhao
Abstract
Abstract Design of organic–inorganic hybrids by anchoring of plasmonic materials such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on self‐assembled organic substrates is useful but challenging. Herein, in situ anchoring of plasmonic nanoparticles on the surface of a designed spherical assembly via AuS bond formation is presented. First, a thiol tailed pyrene derivative (2) undergoes solvent dependent self‐assembly, transforming into an organic spherical aggregate (2 agg ). The thiol (‐SH) rich surface of the organic assembly allows cumulative anchoring of AuNPs on the surface to form an organic–inorganic hybrid (Au@2 agg ). Further coating of biocompatible polyethylene glycol (PEG) leads to the construction of the final multicomponent system (PEG‐Au@2 agg ) exhibiting morphological and spectroscopic features. The potential of PEG‐Au@2 agg as a bioprobe and a contrast agent is investigated by X‐ray computed tomography (CT) experiments in vivo. High X‐ray attenuation of directly anchored AuNP clusters on the surface of this supramolecular nanohybrids enhances the X‐ray CT contrast and allows tracing of site‐selective accumulation in mouse 4T1 breast tumor. Thus, this approach of designing organic–inorganic nanohybrids paves the way for developing future intelligent multifunctional nanosystems capable of cancer detection and imaging.