Theranostic Agent Combining Fullerene Nanocrystals and Gold Nanoparticles for Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy
Riku Kawasaki, Kosuke Kondo, Risako Miura, Keita Yamana, Hinata Isozaki, Risako Shimada, Shogo Kawamura, Hidetoshi Hirano, Tomoki Nishimura, Naoki Tarutani, Kiyofumi Katagiri, Alexandra Stubelius, Shin‐ichi Sawada, Yoshihiro Sasaki, Kazunari Akiyoshi, Atsushi Ikeda
Abstract
Developing photoactivatable theranostic platforms with integrated functionalities of biocompatibility, targeting, imaging contrast, and therapy is a promising approach for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, we report a theranostic agent based on a hybrid nanoparticle comprising fullerene nanocrystals and gold nanoparticles (FGNPs) for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy. Compared to gold nanoparticles and fullerene crystals, FGNPs exhibited stronger photoacoustic signals and photothermal heating characteristics by irradiating light with an optimal wavelength. Our studies demonstrated that FGNPs could kill cancer cells due to their photothermal heating characteristics in vitro. Moreover, FGNPs that are accumulated in tumor tissue via the enhanced permeation and retention effect can visualize tumor tissue due to their photoacoustic signal in tumor xenograft model mice. The theranostic agent with FGNPs shows promise for cancer therapy.