Inflicting Controlled Nonthermal Damage to Subcellular Structures by Laser-Activated Gold Nanoparticles

• DOI: 10.1021/nl103142t
• Publication Date: 2010-10-05T13:52:36Z
• Authors: Željka Krpetić; Paola Nativo; Violaine Sée; Ian A. Prior; Mathias Brust; Martin Volk
• Keywords: Hot Temperature; Lasers; Humans; Nanoparticles; Gold; 02 engineering and technology; Radiation Dosage; 0210 nano-technology; HeLa Cells; Subcellular Fractions

We show that low-intensity laser irradiation of cancer cells containing endosomal gold nanoparticles leads to endosome rupture and escape of the nanoparticles into the cytosol without affecting the cells' viability. The low light intensity of our experiments allows us to rule out photothermal effects as the underlying mechanism, and we present results that suggest photoinduced radicals as the photogenerated active species. This nonthermal mechanism may also be important in the context of cell death at higher laser intensities, which had been reported previously.