A novel thermo-sensitive nano drug-delivery system triggered by near-infrared light

In this paper,gold nanorods with aspect ratio of 3.9 and a longitudinal absorbance peak at 765 nm were prepared using seed-mediated method in which the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a soft template and structure-guiding agent.By using layer-by-layer technique,polyelectrolytes and bovine serum albumin were assembled to the gold nanorods to form a functional thermo-sensitive nano drug-delivery system,dispersed uniformly in the aqueous solution.Meanwhile,the small molecular cationic drug,doxorubicin (Dox),was encapsulated into the nanocarriers (Au-NRs/Dox@PE) by electrostatic force.Upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation,gold nanorods absorbed NIR light and converse it into heat,resulted in the disintegration of the polyelectrolytes and the photothermal controlled release of Dox,which combined photothermal therapy and chemotherapy for cancer treatment.