Dissecting the anti-pancreatic cancer mechanism of gold nanorods mediate photothermal therapy through quantitative proteomics analysis

Gold nanorods (GNRs) mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) represents a promising technique for cancer treatment, utilizing GNRs in conjunction with near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation to convert energy into heat. In the present study, we employed PTT to induce apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells and investigated its underlying mechanisms through quantitative proteomics analysis. Initially, we established that temperatures ranging from 47 to 51 degrees C significantly enhance cellular apoptosis without inducing necrosis. Furthermore, we identified key pathways involved in cell apoptosis, including apoptosis, oxidative stress, and proteasome pathways. Notably, thermal stimulation also resulted in the upregulation of proteins involved in autophagy, which intriguingly contribute to cellular apoptosis via autophagy regulation. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that GNRs-PTT is an effective therapeutic option for pancreatic cancer and provide a theoretical foundation for the clinical application of photothermal therapy. The mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium (https://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org) via the iProX partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD058930.