"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 anti
body-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 28 times in current
journal articles indexed by Clarivate during
January-February 2008. No other chemistry paper published in the last
two years, aside from reviews, collected a higher citation total during
that two-month period. 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 newsletter
Science
Watch®, available from the
Research Services
Group of
Clarivate. Packaged on a CD that
is mailed with each Science Watch issue, the Hot
Papers Database contains data on hundreds of highly cited papers
published during the last two years. User interface permits searching
by author, organization, journal, field, and more. Total citations, as
well as citations accrued during successive bimonthly periods, can be
assessed and graphed. An updated CD containing the most recent
bimonthly data is mailed with every new issue of Science
Watch, six times a year. The CD also includes an
electronic version of the Science Watch issue in
HTML format, for personal desktop access.