Design and manufactoring of smart Gold-Polymer Nanostructures as a Theranostic Agent for Enhanced Diagonsis and Guided Photothermal- Drug Therapies.

Abstract

Cancer is one of the most complex issues in the medical, and its diagnosis and treatment with existing methods are ineffective and failed. The use of simultaneous diagnosis and therapy systems is one of the proposed strategies for the next generation of cancer therapy. In this study, using of environmentally sensitive copolymers, gold nanostructures (rod, cage, and star), and methotrexate carbon dots; polymer-gold nanostructures were prepared and their potential for simultaneous detection and treatment in vitro was evaluated. Physicochemical properties of nanostructures were evaluated by using of 1H-NMR, FT-IR, DLS & Zeta, ICP-MS, UV-Vis, TEM, XPS analyzes. Also, in order to evaluate the potential of diagnosis and treatment (photothermal-drug), MTT, Cell cycle, Apoptosis, Real time-PCR, Western blot, and fluorescent and CT imaging were used. The results obtained from in vitro test show the high potential (compared to the control group) of the final polymer-gold nanostructures to use as a combination therapy agent in comparison with the control group and monotherapy groups. However, the treatment data of the final formulations of different gold forms were not significantly different from each other. Fluorescent and CT imaging results also indicate the potential of final structures for use in imaging.