How to realize targeted photoacoustic imaging, enhanced
immunotherapy, and
photothermal therapy of
gastric cancer has become a great challenge. Herein, we reported for the first time that human cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK) loaded with
gold nanorods were used for targeted photoacoustic imaging, enhanced
immunotherapy, and
photothermal therapy of
gastric cancer.
Silica-modified
gold nanorods were prepared; then incubated with human cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK), resultant human CIK cells loaded with Au nanorods were evaluated for their cytotoxicity, targeted ability of
gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo,
immunotherapy, and
photothermal therapy efficacy. In vitro cell experiment shows that human CIK cells labeled with
gold nanorods actively target
gastric cancer MGC803 cells, inhibit growth of MGC803 cells by inducing cell apoptosis, and kill MGC803 cells under low power density near-infrared (NIR)
laser treatment (808-nm
continuous wave laser, 1.5 W/cm(2), 3 min). In vivo experiment results showed that human CIK cells labeled with
gold nanorods could target actively and image subcutaneous
gastric cancer vessels via photoacoustic imaging at 4 h post-injection, could enhance
immunotherapy efficacy by up-regulating
cytokines such as
IL-1,
IL-12,
IL-2,
IL-4,
IL-17, and IFN-γ, and kill
gastric cancer tissues by
photothermal therapy via direct injection into
tumor site under near-infrared (NIR)
laser irradiation. High-performance human CIK cells labeled with Au nanorods are a good novel
theranostic platform to exhibit great potential in applications such as
tumor-targeted photoacoustic imaging, enhanced
immunotherapy, and
photothermal therapy in the near future.