Hydrogel-Coated Near Infrared Absorbing Nanoshells as Light-Responsive Drug Delivery Vehicles.

ABSTRACT: Nanoparticle drug delivery carriers that can modulate drug release based on an exogenous signal, such as light, are of great interest, especially for improving cancer therapy. A light-activated delivery vehicle was fabricated by synthesizing a thin, thermally responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) hydrogel coating directly onto the surfaces of individual near-infrared (NIR) absorbing gold-silica nanoshells. This hydrogel was designed to be in a swollen state under physiological conditions and expel large amounts of water, along with any entrapped drug, at elevated temperatures. The required temperature change can be achieved via NIR absorption by the nanoshell, allowing the hydrogel phase change to be triggered by light, which was observed by monitoring changes

SUBMITTER: Strong LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4565577 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature