Gold Nanoparticles and Their Biomedical Applications

摘要

Biocompatible gold nanoparticles have gained extensive attention in current years for prospective applications in nanomedicine due to their exciting size dependent chemical, electronic and optical properties. In particular, the potential use of gold nanoparticles as contrast improvement agents in X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) and Photo Acoustic Tomography for premature diagnosis of specific tumors is being widely researched. In addition, gold nanoparticles show undertake in enhancing the effectiveness of a variety of targeted cancer treatments such as radiotherapy and photothermal therapy. In support of these applications, biocompatible gold nanoparticles labeled with particular tumor targeting biomolecules are needed for site specific delivery. The present review focuses on different methods of functionalization of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and their applications in biomedical research. Functionalization facilitates targeted delivery of these nanoparticles to diverse cell types, gene delivery, drug delivery and other therapeutic and diagnostic applications. This review is an combination of recent advances in the field of functionalization of gold nanoparticles and their probable applications in the field of medicine and biology.