AUTHOR=Croissant Jonas G. , Qi Christian , Maynadier Marie , Cattoën Xavier , Wong Chi Man Michel , Raehm Laurence , Mongin Olivier , Blanchard-Desce Mireille , Garcia Marcel , Gary-Bobo Magali , Durand Jean-Olivier TITLE=Multifunctional Gold-Mesoporous Silica Nanocomposites for Enhanced Two-Photon Imaging and Therapy of Cancer Cells JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences VOLUME=3 YEAR=2016 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2016.00001 DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2016.00001 ISSN=2296-889X ABSTRACT=

Three dimensional sub-micron resolution has made two-photon nanomedicine a very promising medical tool for cancer treatment since current techniques cause significant side effects for lack of spatial selectivity. Two-photon-excited (TPE) photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been achieved via mesoporous nanoscaffolds, but the efficiency of the treatment could still be improved. Herein, we demonstrate the enhancement of the treatment efficiency via gold-mesoporous organosilica nanocomposites for TPE-PDT in cancer cells when compared to mesoporous organosilica particles. We performed the first comparative study of the influence of the shape and spatial position of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) functionalized with thiol groups and doped with a two-photon electron donor (2PS). The resulting multifunctional nanocarriers displayed TPE-fluorescence and were imaged inside cells. Furthermore, mesoporous organosilica NPs decorated gold nanospheres (AuNSs) induced 63 percent of selective killing on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. This study thus provides insights for the design of more effective multifunctional two-photon-sensitive nanocomposites via AuNPs for biomedical applications.