Light-triggered drug release from a gold nanorod contained composite membrane

Abstract

The development of a novel drug-delivery system with the ability to respond to a given stimulus has attracted much attention due to their enhanced therapeutic efficacy. We have developed the versatile delivery system using the dendrimer-gold nanorod composite membrane able to give a response to near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. The membrane was fabricated through dithiocarbamate (DTC) cross-linking of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers to gold nanorods. The photothermal effect of a gold nanorod by NIR irradiation leads to rapid increase in temperature around the composite membrane, accelerating the release of drugs through the membrane. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze surface morphology of the fabricated membrane and quantitative release of drugs by NIR irradiation was measured by UV-vis spectroscopy or fluorescence spectroscopy.