Functionalized biocompatible WO3 nanoparticles for triggered and targeted in vitro and in vivo photothermal therapy.

Abstract We report on dopamine-conjugated hyaluronic acid (HA-D), a mussel-inspired facile capping material that can modify tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) nanoparticles to be both biocompatible and targetable, allowing precise delivery (WO 3 -HA) to a tumor site. Near-infrared (NIR) irradiated WO 3 -HA showed a rapid and substantial rise in photothermal heat to complete in vitro thermolysis of malignant MDAMB and A549 cancer cellsbut was found to be relatively less sensitive to normal MDCK cells. A long-term in vivo investigation of ~ 10 nm HA thickness on WO 3 (WO 3 -HA) nanoparticles demonstrated efficient photo-thermal conversion with time-dependent tumor target accumulation. This long-term in vivo survival study of WO 3 -HA showed promising biocompatibility, with a complete recovery from malignant tumor. Due to the importance of keeping simplicity in the design of therapeutic nanoparticles, we therefore expect that this facile scheme (HA-D) would contribute to the biocompatible development of versatile metallic nanoparticles for photothermal applications.