Polypeptide-Engineered Hydrogel Coated Gold Nanorods for Targeted Drug Delivery and Chemo-photothermal Therapy

A new hybrid nanogel system using polypetide-engineered coated gold nanorods has been developed for targeted drug delivery and tumor chemo-photothermal therapy. A triblock engineered polypeptide PC₁₀A(RGD) was immobilized on the surface of gold nanorods by the electrostatic adsorption. The immobilized PC₁₀A(RGD) formed hydrogel by self-assembly to load doxorubicin for chemotherapy. Coating polypeptide-engineering hydrogel on gold nanorods enhanced the stability in high-salt media and significantly reduced the cytotoxicity. An arginine-glycine-aspartic acid motif was introduced into the polypeptide on the surface of hybrid nanogels to promote cellular uptake through receptor-mediated endocytosis in αvβ₃ overexpressing HeLa cells. In addition, compared with single chemotherapy and near-infrared photothermal therapy, the combination therapy has a synergistic effect on the cancer cells. Thus, the chemo-photothermal therapy based on polypeptide-engineered hydrogel coated gold nanorods and doxorubicin is expected to have great potential impact on cancer therapy.