Timing The Therapeutic Trigger of Au Lipos Cur NPs for Effective Photothermal Therapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is one of the emerging modalities for the treatment of cancer. Among various near Infrared (NIR) responsive nanomaterials which are under research, gold coated liposomes (Au Lipos NPs) are considered as a promising candidate for photothermal therapy and triggered drug delivery agent. The external NIR light trigger is advantageous because the trigger itself causes therapeutic effect (by inducing localized hyperthermia). In the current study we have investigated the timing of therapeutic trigger that governs the therapeutic efficacy. We found a significant enhancement in therapy when early trigger was applied. Moreover, the curcumin (hydrophobic model drug) entrapped in Au Lipos Cur NPs acted as a thermal sensitizer further enhancing the therapeutic outcome. The in vivo repeated dose administration in rats revealed no specific toxicity to the animal.