DETECTION AND TREATMENT OF GNAQ MUTANT UVEAL MELANOMA CELLS WITH GOLD NANOPARTICLES

摘要

The inventions described herein relate to the use of metallic nanoparticles for the early detection of uveal melanoma. The nanoparticles comprise a nucleic acid having a stem and loop structure that juxtaposes the metallic domain onto a fluorophore to quench the fluorophore. Upon binding to a variant GNAQ sequence, the stem and loop structure is disrupted and the fluorophore fluoresces. In particular embodiments, the metallic domain comprises gold. The inventions described herein further relate to the use of metallic nanoparticles to treat uveal melanoma.