In situ formation of alginic acid‐gold nanohybrids for application in cancer photothermal therapy

Abstract

AbstractGold‐based nanoparticles present excellent optical properties that propelled their widespread application in biomedicine, from bioimaging to photothermal applications. Nevertheless, commonly employed manufacturing methods for gold‐based nanoparticles require long periods and laborious protocols that reduce cost‐effectiveness and scalability. Herein, a novel methodology was used for producing gold‐alginic acid nanohybrids (Au‐Alg‐NH) with photothermal capabilities. This was accomplished by promoting the in situ reduction and nucleation of gold ions throughout a matrix of alginic acid by using ascorbic acid. The results obtained reveal that the Au‐Alg‐NHs present a uniform size distribution and a spike‐like shape. Moreover, the nanomaterials were capable to mediate a temperature increase of ≈11°C in response to the irradiation with a near‐infrared region (NIR) laser (808 nm, 1.7 W cm−2). The in vitro assays showed that Au‐Alg‐NHs were able to perform a NIR light‐triggered ablation of cancer cells (MCF‐7), being observed a reduction in the cell viability to ≈27%. Therefore, the results demonstrate that this novel methodology holds the potential for producing Au‐Alg‐NH with photothermal capacity and higher translatability to the clinical practice, namely for cancer therapy.