Targeted cancer imaging and photothermal therapy via monosaccharide-imprinted gold nanorods

Abstract

Plasmonic nanomaterials have been widely used for photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer, but their recognition specificity remains challenging. We prepared monosaccharide-imprinted gold nanorods (AuNRs) for targeted cancer PTT, using sialic acid (SA) as a representative monosaccharide. The SA-imprinted AuNRs exhibited good specificity, enabling the killing of cancer cells without damaging healthy cells.