Epigallocatechin gallate based magnetic gold nanoshells nanoplatform for cancer theranostic applications

Abstract

Recently, gold nanomaterials and iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted much attention due to their unique physical, chemical and biological properties. In this study, polyethyleneimine (PEI)-modified Fe₃O₄ NPs (inner cores) were first prepared, and then gold shells (AuNSs) were innovatively formed on the cores using epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) as the reducing agent to obtain Fe₃O₄-PEI@AuNSs-EGCG core–shell NPs. After PEG modification, the Fe₃O₄-PEI@AuNSs-EGCG/PEG nanoplatform was completed. This highly integrated nanoplatform has shown remarkable biostability, rapid cellular uptake, and excellent in vitro and in vivo anti-tumour activity. Moreover, this nanoplatform can also be used as a magnetic resonance (MR)/X-ray dual-mode imaging agent. In all, the results of this study showed that Fe₃O₄-PEI@AuNSs-EGCG/PEG is a promising, potentially effective, theranostic nanoplatform for tumour treatment.