Due to good biocompatibility and plasma membrane similarity, the nanosized exosomes are ideal drug carriers. Near-infrared (NIR) photothermal therapy is an emerging method for cancer treatment in which photothermal agents absorb the energy of external NIR light to generate high temperatures in a targeted region to effectively kill cancer cells. Gold nanorods (AuNRs) have been found to provide a prominent photothermal performance, while aptamers can precisely target surface markers on cells with high affinity and specificity. In this study, exosomes were mildly functionalized by integrating them with aptamers and AuNRs to assemble a powerful combination Apt-Exos-AuNRs (AEARs) with good specificity and an effective photothermal killing action on cancer cells. The structure, hydrodynamic diameters, zeta potential, UV-vis absorption spectra and stability of the AEARs were further characterized. In addition, using a cell model, the cancer cell targeting ability of the AEARs and its cellular uptake were observed. Moreover, its photothermal killing effect on various human cancer cells in vitro was validated by a CCK-8 assay as well as apoptosis analysis, the results of which suggest this exosomes-based nanomaterial can serve as a novel and broad-spectrum platform for precision cancer therapy.

中文翻译：

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强大组合的组装和体外评估：适体修饰的外泌体与金纳米棒结合用于有效的光热治疗

由于良好的生物相容性和质膜相似性，纳米外泌体是理想的药物载体。近红外（NIR）光热疗法是一种新兴的癌症治疗方法，其中光热剂吸收外部近红外光的能量，在目标区域产生高温，有效杀死癌细胞。已发现金纳米棒 (AuNRs) 具有显着的光热性能，而适体可以以高亲和力和特异性精确靶向细胞上的表面标记。在这项研究中，外泌体通过将它们与适体和 AuNRs 整合来组装一个强大的组合 Apt-Exos-AuNRs (AEARs)，具有良好的特异性和对癌细胞的有效光热杀伤作用。结构、流体动力学直径、zeta 电位、进一步表征了 AEAR 的紫外-可见吸收光谱和稳定性。此外，使用细胞模型，观察了 AEAR 的癌细胞靶向能力及其细胞摄取。此外，其在体外对各种人类癌细胞的光热杀伤作用通过 CCK-8 测定和细胞凋亡分析得到验证，结果表明这种基于外泌体的纳米材料可以作为一种新型的、广谱的精准癌症平台。治疗。