Nanoparticles: Gold Nanoparticles

Gold Nanoparticles in Cell Cytosol

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Gold nanoparticles - Gold nanoparticles ("nanogold") occur as clusters of gold atoms up to 100nm in diameter. It has been extensively studied for use in biomedical applications due to their interesting size dependent physicochemical and optical properties. At the nanoscale gold is no longer gold, but shades of red, blue and yellow.

Advantages:

• their ability to produce heat upon absorbance of near-infrared light has been explored for use in photothermal therapy,
• their ability to enhance optical processes such as absorbance and fluorescence has led to widespread use in the field of biosensors and imaging agents.
• gold nanoparticles are customizable, able to be synthesized in various shapes and sizes by relatively straightforward chemical synthesis

Limitations:

• There is some concern that smaller gold nanoparticles or gold nanoparticles coated with certain peptides or proteins may cross the blood brain barrier when administered intravenously.