Abstract:

The present study employed a chemical reduction method to synthesize gold nanoparticles （AuNPs） decorated on graphene oxide （GO） nanomaterials. The produced GO-AuNPs were characterized using advanced analytical techniques such as transmission electron microscopy， UV-visible spectrophotometry， and laser particle size analysis. Furthermore， the photothermal properties of GO-AuNPs were investigated using an infrared thermal imaging camera. Subsequently， the GO-AuNPs were utilized for the loading of an anti-cancer drug， doxorubicin hydrochloride （DOX）， to yield a nanodrug complex （GO-AuNP@DOX）. The loading and release of DOX were determined by fluorescence spectrophotometry， revealing that the DOX release was more favorable under weak acidic conditions. Moreover， it was observed that at pH=5.3， the release amount of DOX reached up to 30.51% under the irradiation of 808 nm laser. The cellular uptake ability of GO-AuNP@DOX by cancer cells was analyzed using confocal microscopy. The in vitro cytotoxicity of GO-AuNP@DOX against tumor cells was evaluated using a CCK-8 cell viability assay， demonstrating the excellent biocompatibility of the GO-AuNP carrier. Additionally， in vivo anti-tumor experiments conducted on tumor-bearing mice revealed that the combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy effectively suppressed tumor growth. These results indicate that the GO-AuNP nanodrug carrier possesses outstanding photothermal conversion ability and exceptional biocompatibility， while their pH/NIR dual drug release performance makes it a promising candidate for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy of tumors.

Key words: Gold nanospheres, Graphene oxide, Drug carrier, Anti-cancer