Fig. 10.

Schematic illustration of the synthesis and use of aptamer functionalized gold nanorods (Apt-GNRs) for targeted photothermal therapy of breast cancer. First, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide-GNRs (CTAB-GNRs) were synthesized via a seed-mediated approach (1). Secondly, the CTAB was replaced by PEG (2) for functionalizing aptamer (3). Then, the Apt-GNRs were incubated with the targeted breast cancer cells followed by photothermal ablation in near infrared range (4), which eventually caused targeted cell death specifically (5)

(Reprinted with permission from Ref. [130]. Copyright © 2015, Royal Society of Chemistry)