Diagnosis and therapy of macrophage cells using dextran-coated near-infrared responsive hollow-type gold nanoparticles

We describe the development of hollow-type gold nanoparticles (NPs) for the photonic-based imaging and therapy of macrophage cells. The strong light-absorption and light-scattering properties of gold NPs render them to be useful as molecular imaging agents as well as therapeutic moieties. By controlling the geometry of the gold NPs, the optical resonance peak was shifted to around the near-infrared (NIR) region, where light transmission through biological tissue is known to be fairly high. Hollow-type gold NPs modified with dextran were phagocytosed by macrophage cells. Using dark-field microscopy, it was possible to image macrophage cells targeted with NPs. After NIR irradiation, macrophages labeled with NPs were selectively destroyed by the photothermal effect. FACS analysis revealed that the photothermal effect caused principally late apoptosis-related cell death or secondary necrosis. The experimental results showed that hollow-type gold NPs conjugated with dextran could be used not only as optical imaging contrast agents but also as a component of a novel anti-macrophage therapeutic strategy.