Rod shaped gold nanoparticles are synthesized using cetyltriammonium bromide (CTAB) as a major component of
growth solutions. This surfactant is toxic to cells, but is at the moment unavoidable when monodisperse and high yield
nanorods are to be synthesized. CTAB is found coating side walls of the nanoparticles and plays a role in maintaining
colloidal stability. It may be displaced using thiolated PEG which is non-toxic to cells. Here we report on systematic
studies of cell viability of such PEGylated nanorods on an SKBR3 cell-line using the MTS assay. These PEGylated
particles are characterized using electron microscopy, optical spectroscopy and zeta potential measurements. It is
expected that such treatment will be crucial in making nanorods compatible for in vivo biomedical applications.
Gold nanorods are seen as possible contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging since they have strong
absorption peaks at near-infrared wavelengths. Also they are easy to conjugate with various proteins. If these
particles can be conjugated with cancer affinity proteins then these particles can accumulate specifically at a tumor
site. By detecting the presence of accumulation of gold nanorods inside the tissue the indirect detection of tumor can
be realized. When these particles are irradiated with light pulses of appropriate temporal properties and energy the
temperature around these particles can be high enough to induce apoptosis or necrosis in the surrounding cells. In
order to use these particles at their full potential we must determine precisely their optical properties. We simulated
the optical properties of gold nanorods synthesized by us using the DDSCAT code. The simulated spectra agree
qualitatively with the spectra determined using spectrometry and also determined using photoacoustic spectroscopy.
Further the values of molar extinction coefficient derived from the simulations were similar to the data measured
experimentally by other groups. These results validated qualitatively the model used in the simulations. During
simulations we found that the choice of the dielectric function used in simulations plays an important role in the results.
Gold nanoparticles exhibit intense and narrow optical extinction bands due to the phenomenon of plasmon resonance
making them useful as contrast agents for light-based imaging techniques. Localized heating results from the absorbed
light energy, which shows potential for these particles in photothermal therapy as well. The bioconjugation of gold
nanoparticles to appropriate antibodies targeted to tumors in vivo, could make highly selective detection and therapy of
tumors possible. We have synthesised gold nanorods based on seed mediated protocols using two methods. The first
method is based on using a mono-surfactant silver assisted method which produces gold nanorods having plasmon peaks
between 670-850 nm within the "optical imaging and therapeutic window". These nanorods have aspect ratios between
2.3 - 3.7. A second method is a silver assisted bi-surfactant method which produce nanorods with peaks in the range of
850-1100 nm having aspect ratios between 5 - 11. Typical concentrations of these particles in aqueous dispersions are in
the range of 1x1010 - 1x1011 particles per mL. We have bioconjugated these gold nanorods with anti-HER2/neu mouse
monoclonal antibodies (MAb). Since the as-prepared CTAB-stabilized nanorods were found to be toxic to SKBR3 cells,
we decided to coat the gold nanorods with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Characterization and size estimation of the
nanoparticles were performed using electron microscopies, optical spectroscopy and confocal microscopy. We present
these results and implications for use of these nanoparticles for in vivo biomedical applications.
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