Folate targeting self-limiting hyperthermic nanoparticles for controlled photothermal therapy

Photothermal therapy utilizes photothermal agents and the use of nanoparticle agents is deemed advantageous for multiple reasons. Common nano-photothermal agents normally have high conversion efficiencies and heating rates, but bulk temperature measurement methods do not adequately represent the nanoscale temperatures of these nanoheaters. Herein, we report on the fabrication of self-limiting hyperthermic nanoparticles that can simultaneously photoinduce hyperthermia and report back temperature ratiometrically. The synthesized nanoparticles utilize a plasmonic core to achieve the photoinduced hyperthermic property and fluorescent FRET pairs entrapped in a silica shell to impart the ratiometric temperature sensing ability. The studies demonstrate the photoinduced hyperthermia with simultaneous temperature measurement using these particles and show that the particles can achieve a conversion efficiency of 19.5% despite the shell architecture. These folate-functionalized self-limiting photothermal agents are also used to demonstrate targeted photoinduced hyperthermia in a HeLa cell model.

Automated summary

Photothermal therapy utilizes photothermal agents and the use of nanoparticle agents is advantageous. Common nanophotothermal agents have high conversion efficiencies and heating rates, but bulk temperature methods do not represent their nanoscale temperatures. This study reports on the fabrication of self-limiting hyperthermic nanoparticles that can induce hyperthermia and measure temperature ratiometrically. These nanoparticles utilize a plasmonic core for hyperthermia and fluorescent FRET pairs for temperature sensing.