Formation of gold decorated porphyrin nanoparticles and evaluation of their photothermal and photodynamic activity

Abstract

A core-shell gold (Au) nanoparticle with improved photosensitization have been successfully fabricated using Au nanoparticles and 5,10,15,20 tetrakis pentafluorophenyl)-21H,23H-porphine (PF6) dye, forming a dyad through molecular self-assembly. Au nanoparticles were decorated on the shell and PF6 was placed in the core of the nanoparticles. Highly stable Au nanoparticles were achieved using PF6 with poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-N-vinylimidazole)-g-poly(D,L-lactide) graft copolymer hybridization. This was compared with hybridization using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and polyethylene glycol-b-poly(D,L-lactide) for shell formation with PF6-Au. The resulting PF6-poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-N-vinylimidazole)-g-poly(D,L-lactide)-Au core-shell nanoparticle were utilized for photothermal and photodynamic activities. The spectroscopic analysis and zeta potential values of micelles revealed the presence of a thin Au layer coated on the PF6 nanoparticle surface, which generally enhanced the thermal stability of the gold nanoparticles and the photothermal effect of the shell. The core-shell PF6-Au nanoparticles were avidly taken up by cells and demonstrated cellular phototoxicity upon irradiation with 300W halogen lamps. The structural arrangement of PF6 dyes in the core-shell particles assures the effectiveness of singlet oxygen production. The study verifies that PF6 particles when companied with Au nanoparticles as PF6-Au have possible combinational applications in photodynamic and photothermal therapies for cancer cells because of their high production of singlet oxygen and heat.

Keywords: Core–shell micelles; Gold nanoparticles; Nano composites; Photodynamic activity; Photothermal activity; Scanning electron microscopy.