Gold nanoflowers for 3D volumetric molecular imaging of tumors by photoacoustic tomography

By binding molecular probes that target tumor cells, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with superior characteristics have shown great potential in tumor molecular imaging studies. The non-invasive, high-resolution, and three-dimensional imaging of the targeted AuNPs within the tumor is desirable for both diagnosis and therapy. In this study, gold nanoflowers (AuNFs) are presented as a novel contrast agent for photoacoustic tomography (PAT). By binding to folic acid, the molecular probe, the tail-vein injected AuNFs concentrated within the tumor site in mice; this was clearly visualized by three-dimensional (3D) PAT imaging. In addition, toxicity assay proved that AuNFs were harmless to living cells and animals. Our results demonstrate that AuNFs have great potential in tumor molecular imaging.