Gold/Polyoxometalate Core/Shell Nanoparticles For Combined Chemotherapy-Photothermal Cancer Therapy

We designed monodisperse and perfectly shaped core/shell AuNP@Mo(4)Zol(2)Mn nanohybrids consisting of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized by an antitumoral polyoxometalate (POM) incorporating the biologically active zoledronate ligand. After incubation, the nanoparticles were readily confined in the endosomal compartments of PC3 human prostate adenocarcinoma cells. Under photothermal treatment, the metabolic activity drastically decreased at concentrations where the nanohybrids exhibited no anticancer activity in the dark, and almost all cancer cells were killed at concentrations at which zoledronate alone was totally inactive. This study evidences for the first time that AuNPs capped by POMs can represent excellent candidates for combined chemotherapy and photothermal cancer therapy.