Abstract
Cancer theranostic agent IR 820 loses its bioimaging ability once therapy is initiated. At the end of therapy, it becomes difficult to track the cancer cells. To address this, FITC conjugated Polycaprolactone glycol chitosan IR 820 nanoparticles (FITC-PCLGC-IR NPs) has been synthesized for in vitro tracking of hyperthemia induced cell death. Two approaches, namely ex situ and in situ have been pursued FITC conjugation to PCLGC-IR NPs. Further comparisons were made to FITC encapsulated PCLGC-IR NPs in terms of biocompatibility, cellular uptake, photothermal mediated cell death and imaging with respect to laser treatment. We have shown that an 808 nm diode laser treatment did not affect the imaging ability of these NPs whereas cancer. Time scanned fluorescence shows the excellent photostability of this formulation for a maximum of 5 min. The detailed studies of these approaches summarize that FITC conjugation to PCLGC-IR nanoparticles is an effective nano-theranostic solution for image-guided photothermal therapy.