Multifunctional Heterostructured Nanocomposites for Targeted Imaging and Destruction of Tumor Cells

Nanomaterials provide a robust framework in which two or more components can be incorporated to offer synergetic multifunctional nanomedical platforms. The combination of tumor-targeted imaging and therapy in an all-in-one system provides a useful multimodal approach in the battle against cancer. Novel multifunctional nanoparticles thus offer a new avenue in the application of personalized medicine in the near future. In this project, we propose to design and fabricate FRET-based multifunctional heterostructured nano- composites for targeted imaging and simultaneous therapy. Heterostructures consisting of silica nanoparticles which function as fluorescent imaging vehicles, and gold nanomaterials which serve a dual function as fluorescence quencher and irradiation converter, will be assembled using biomolecule-directed strategies. Biomolecules which can specifically recognize cancer cells will be functionalized to gold nanoparticles to serve as targeting molecules, while their complementary pairs will be functionalized to silica nanoparticles for specific assembly of multifunctional nanocomposites. The in vitro performance evaluation of the multifunctional nanocomposites will be carried out using HepG2 cell model.