Preparation and photothermal therapy of hyaluronic acid–conjugated Au nanoparticle-coated poly (glycidyl methacrylate) nanocomposites

Nanocomposites are fabricated with poly (glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) microspheres, Au nanoparticles and hyaluronic acid (HA) for accurate photothermal therapy. PGMA microspheres are synthesized by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization followed by amination. The adsorption of gold seeds is successfully achieved through chelation. PGMA@Au-4 nanocomposites (abbreviated as PGMA@Au) are obtained after gold seed growth. The temperature of the 0.3 mg mL⁻¹ PGMA@Au dispersion increases by 10.6 °C when irradiated with a near-infrared (NIR) laser for 5 min. In order to reduce side effects in normal cells and achieve a specific targeting property for cancer cells, HA is further conjugated on the surface of PGMA@Au (denoted as PGMA@Au–HA). The PGMA@Au–HA nanocomposites perform highly selective targeting toward cancer cells and have good photothermal properties, leading to threefold therapeutic efficacy against cancer cells in comparison with normal cells. These results indicate that the PGMA@Au–HA construct could be a promising platform for cancer therapy.