High performance nanobio photocatalyst for targeted brain cancer therapy

We report pronounced and specific antiglioblastoma cell phototoxicity of 5 nm TiO2 particles covalently tethered to an antibody via a dihydroxybenzene bivalent linker. The linker application enables absorption of a visible part of the solar spectrum by the nanobio hybrid. The phototoxicity is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) that initiate programmed death of the cancer cell. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) was applied for direct visualization of the nanobioconjugate distribution through a single brain cancer cell at the submicrometer scale.