Sci-Bytes : 2008 : 01.13.2008 - Hot Paper in Chemistry
SCI-BYTES - WHAT'S NEW IN RESEARCH
Week of January 13, 2008
Hot Paper in Chemistry
"Cancer cell imaging and photothermal therapy in the near-infrared
region by using gold nanorods," by Xiaohua Huang, Ivan H.
El-Sayed, Wei Qian, and Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Journal of the American
Chemical Society, 128(6): 2115-20, 15 February 2006.
[Authors affiliations: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; University
of California, San Francisco]
Abstract: "Due to strong electric fields at the surface,
the absorption and scattering of electromagnetic radiation by noble metal
nanoparticles are strongly enhanced. These unique properties provide the
potential of designing novel optically active reagents for simultaneous
molecular imaging and photothermal cancer therapy. It is desirable to use
agents that are active in the near-infrared (NIR) region of the radiation
spectrum to minimize the light extinction by intrinsic chromophores in
native tissue. Gold nanorods with suitable aspect ratios (length divided by
width) can absorb and scatter strongly in the NIR region (650-900 nm). In
the present work, we provide an in vitro demonstration of gold nanorods as
novel contrast agents for both molecular imaging and photothermal cancer
therapy. Nanorods are synthesized and conjugated to anti-epidermal
growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) monoclonal antibodies and incubated in
cell cultures with a nonmalignant epithelial cell line (HaCat) and two
malignant oral epithelial cell lines (HOC 313 clone 8 and HSC 3). The
anti-EGFR antibody-conjugated nanorods bind specifically to the surface of
the malignant-type cells with a much higher affinity due to the
overexpressed EGFR on the cytoplasmic membrane of the malignant cells. As a
result of the strongly scattered red light from gold nanorods in dark
field, observed using a laboratory microscope, the malignant cells are
clearly visualized and diagnosed from the nonmalignant cells. It is found
that, after exposure to continuous red laser at 800 nm, malignant cells
require about half the laser energy to be photothermally destroyed than the
nonmalignant cells. Thus, both efficient cancer cell diagnostics and
selective photothermal therapy are realized at the same time."
This 2006 report from the Journal of the American Chemical Society
was cited 29 times in current journal articles
indexed by Thomson Scientific during September-October 2007. During that
two-month period, only one other chemistry paper published in the last two
years (excluding reviews) attracted a greater number of citations. Prior to
the most recent bimonthly count, citations to the paper have accrued as
follows:
SOURCE:
Hot Papers Database (Included with a subscription to the print
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Sci-Bytes : 2008 : 01.13.2008 - Hot Paper in Chemistry