Summary:

Most dysfunctions in cancer cells result from the expression of mutated genes or deregulated genes that overexpress proteins. Gene therapy can revolutionize cancer treatment by turning off a defective gene using an oligonucleotide (DNA, RNA). In addition, gold nanoparticles illuminated with a particular wavelength behave like tiny converters of light into heat. When illumination is achieved by ultrashort laser pulses, the photo-induced heating is brief, intense and very confined around the nano-objects. Our project offers to improve the efficiency of DNA delivery in biological cells and its quantitative control by grafting oligonucleotides onto gold nanorods and then triggering the delivery by photothermal effect induced by laser pulses.