Photothermal Release of an Encapsulated Therapeutic Agent from Polymer-Wrapped Gold Nanoparticles.

Visible light is used to generate heat from gold nanoparticles wrapped in an amphiphilic polymer shell and trigger a reverse Diels-Alder reaction of a 'caged' tyrphostin therapeutic agent. The hydrophilic nature of the released agent results in it travelling from the polymer to the bulk medium, while the byproduct of the reaction is trapped in the hydrophobic layer of the nano-assembly.