Morphological Features\nInfluence the Drug Loading\nand Delivery Efficacy of Photoactivatable Gold Nanocarriers for Antitumor\nPhoto/Chemotherapy

Photoactivatable gold nanocarriers are transforming antitumor\ntherapies\nby leveraging their distinctive physicochemical properties, enabling\ntargeted drug delivery and enhanced therapeutic efficacy in cancer\ntreatment. This study systematically investigates how surface topography\nand morphology of gold nanocarriers influence drug loading capacity,\nlight-to-heat conversion efficiency, and overall therapeutic performance\nin photo/chemotherapy. We synthesized four distinct morphologies of\ngold nanoparticles: porous gold nanocups (PAuNCs), porous gold nanospheres\n(PAuNSs), solid gold nanocups (SAuNCs), and solid gold nanospheres\n(SAuNSs). By examining these morphologies, we isolated the effects\nof surface roughness, porosity, and inner cavity structures on the\ncritical therapeutic parameters. Our findings reveal that PAuNCs exhibit\nsuperior drug loading capabilities due to their enhanced surface area\nand porosity, facilitating greater interaction with therapeutic agents.\nWhereas, dissolution kinetic modeling confirmed that porosity contributes\nto improve diffusion-controlled drug release. <i>In vitro</i> studies on HepG2 cancer cells demonstrated that PAuNCs markedly\nimproved cellular uptake, resulting in a dramatic reduction in cell\nviability to 3% and a notable increase in apoptosis (60.45%). Under\nnear-infrared (NIR) irradiation, PAuNCs effectively induced localized\nhyperthermia (46.7 °C) and significantly inhibited tumor growth\nin an <i>in vivo</i> HepG2 tumor mice model compared with\nalternative nanogold morphologies. This research underscores the critical\nrole of surface roughness, porosity, morphology, and cavitation in\noptimizing drug delivery and enhancing therapeutic outcomes of photoactivatable\ngold nanocarriers for collaborative photochemotherapy.