Advances in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications of protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters.
J Mater Chem B
; 2020 Sep 09.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32901648
ABSTRACT
The interest in using gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) as imaging probes is growing, covering wide ranges of applications. The stabilization of AuNCs with protein ligands enhances their biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. This is due to the biocompatibility, water solubility and bioactivity of proteins. Different factors can control the optical properties of AuNCs such as protein size, amino acids content and conformational structure. Controlling the synthesis conditions can result in tuning the AuNCs excitation, emission, fluorescence intensity and physicochemical properties to fulfill different applications. NIR-emitting protein-stabilized AuNCs are promising as imaging agents for targeting and visualization of cancer in vitro and in vivo. They are promising to be included as an important part of multifunctional theranostic nanosystems, due to their potential dual functions as imaging and photosensitizing agent for photodynamic therapy. Additionally, the protein around AuNCs represents a rich environment of active functional groups that are susceptible for conjugation with various biomolecules. Protein-AuNCs can act as fluorescent probes for rapid and selective analysis of different analytes in solution, cells or biological fluids. In conclusion, the variability of protein-AuNC applications can advance research in different biomedical and pharmaceutical fields.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Mater Chem B
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Egipto