Suri and Chang's paper is published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces!

In this work, we present mvGlu-AuNR (multivalent glucose ligand-functionalized gold nanorods), a targeted photothermal therapy (PTT) platform. The gold nanorod system incorporates a multivalent glucose (mvGlu) ligand previously developed by our lab (East et al., 2023), which enables high-affinity engagement of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and selective uptake into glycolytic tumors. This targeted design resulted in significantly enhanced tumor accumulation, with up to an 8-fold increase in gold content and a 3-fold improvement in photoacoustic signal compared to non-targeted controls in 4T1 breast cancer models. Moreover, mvGlu-AuNR demonstrated superior photothermal conversion efficiency relative to conventional PEGylated gold nanorods, allowing effective tumor heating at low systemic doses. Biodistribution studies revealed favorable tumor-to-liver ratios ranging from 1.56 to 4.88, indicating strong tumor selectivity and negligible liver accumulation. At a dose of just 1 mg/kg, mvGlu-AuNR achieved robust tumor growth inhibition without signs of off-target toxicity. Collectively, this work establishes mvGlu targeting as a versatile and effective strategy to enhance PTT precision, reduce systemic exposure, and improve therapeutic outcomes.

Congrats to Suri and Chang for this amazing work!

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