Characterization of phospholipid-encapsulated gold nanoparticles: a versatile platform to study drug delivery and cellular uptake mechanisms

摘要

The data presented in this work aim to provide a comprehensive characterization of lipid-coated gold nanoparticles. We show that it is possible to envelop gold nanoparticles with a coating of lipids during the formation of the gold nanoparticles, that the gold in these lipid-coated gold nanoparticles is crystalline and the size and shape can be controlled by the reaction conditions (within limits), that the lipid coating corresponds to a thickness consistent with the formation of a bilayer, that the bilayer can include fluorescent probes that, while quenched, can be used to trace the fate of the gold nanoparticles in cellular systems, that their surface charge, and hence their overall stability in solution, is influenced by the lipid coating, and that while some lipid dyes may exchange among the particles, they are sufficiently stable to exchange to permit their use as tracers in cell studies. We believe this is the most comprehensive characterization of these systems to date.