Formation of Gold Nanostar-Coated Hollow Mesoporous Silica for Tumor Multimodality Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

Development of multifunctional nanoplatforms for tumor multimode imaging and therapy is of great necessity. Herein, we report a new type of Au nanostar (NS)-coated, perfluorohexane (PFH)-encapsulated hollow mesoporous silica nanocapsule (HMS) modified with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) for tumor multimode ultrasonic (US)/computed tomography (CT)/photoacoustic (PA)/thermal imaging, and photothermal therapy (PTT). HMSs were first synthesized, silanized to have thiol surface groups, and coated with gold nanoparticles via a Au–S bond. Followed by growth of Au NSs on the surface of the HMSs, encapsulation of PFH in the interior of the HMSs, and surface conjugation of thiolated PEG, multifunctional HMSs@Au–PFH–mPEG NSs (for short, HAPP) were formed and well-characterized. We show that the HAPP are stable in a colloidal manner and noncytotoxic in the studied range of concentrations, possess multimode US/CT/PA/thermal imaging ability, and can be applied for multimode US/CT/PA/thermal imaging of tumors in vivo after intravenous or intratumoral injection. Additionally, the near-infrared absorption property of the HAPP enables the use of the HAPP for photothermal ablation of cancer cells in vitro and a tumor model in vivo after intratumoral injection. The developed multifunctional HAPP may be used as a novel multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform for tumor multimode imaging and PTT.