Alcoholic solutions of gold colloids were used for medical purposes since fifth and fourth centuries B.C. as documented in tracts by Chinese, Arabic, and Indian scientist. Science has made huge progress in understanding the physical/chemical properties of gold nanoparticles (NPs) and in the development of synthetic procedures for the fine tuning of their size, dispersion, and shape in order to exploit optical, magnetic, and electronic features.1 Thanks to these achievement and to their stability, with respect to NPs composed of other elements, gold NPs are the most study type of NPs. Moreover, gold NPs provide a robust platform for the grafting of organic ligands which stabilize the NPs against aggregation, determine the properties of the NP surface in contact with the biological media and are responsible for many functional activities of gold NPs.2 In this respect impressive results have been obtained in order to address NPs specifically to illness cells using targeting elements on the NPs surface to deliver their cargo (drugs or nucleic acids).3 Fantastic achievements have been reported on the use of gold NPs in diagnosis for the detection/identification of specific proteins.3,4 Moreover, properly modified gold NPs have been successfully applied to a variety of imaging techniques.5 Particularly appealing are NPs capable of transporting and delivering one or more bioactive molecules, including therapeutic agents and imaging contrast enhancers, to target tissue or for active triggered release of the payload at the disease site. In spite of the incredible large amount of research work in the field only one example exists of gold NPs that has been approved for clinical studies.6 More surprisingly is the fact that still nowadays solutions of colloidal gold are commercialized, mainly via web, claiming anti-inflammatory properties, enhanced moods, improved cognitive function, rejuvenating properties. In this lecture, a critical analysis of some case in point from the plethora of examples reported in the literature and from our group will be presented.
Engineered gold nanoparticles for diagnosis, imaging, and therapy
PASQUATO, LUCIA
2013-01-01
Abstract
Alcoholic solutions of gold colloids were used for medical purposes since fifth and fourth centuries B.C. as documented in tracts by Chinese, Arabic, and Indian scientist. Science has made huge progress in understanding the physical/chemical properties of gold nanoparticles (NPs) and in the development of synthetic procedures for the fine tuning of their size, dispersion, and shape in order to exploit optical, magnetic, and electronic features.1 Thanks to these achievement and to their stability, with respect to NPs composed of other elements, gold NPs are the most study type of NPs. Moreover, gold NPs provide a robust platform for the grafting of organic ligands which stabilize the NPs against aggregation, determine the properties of the NP surface in contact with the biological media and are responsible for many functional activities of gold NPs.2 In this respect impressive results have been obtained in order to address NPs specifically to illness cells using targeting elements on the NPs surface to deliver their cargo (drugs or nucleic acids).3 Fantastic achievements have been reported on the use of gold NPs in diagnosis for the detection/identification of specific proteins.3,4 Moreover, properly modified gold NPs have been successfully applied to a variety of imaging techniques.5 Particularly appealing are NPs capable of transporting and delivering one or more bioactive molecules, including therapeutic agents and imaging contrast enhancers, to target tissue or for active triggered release of the payload at the disease site. In spite of the incredible large amount of research work in the field only one example exists of gold NPs that has been approved for clinical studies.6 More surprisingly is the fact that still nowadays solutions of colloidal gold are commercialized, mainly via web, claiming anti-inflammatory properties, enhanced moods, improved cognitive function, rejuvenating properties. In this lecture, a critical analysis of some case in point from the plethora of examples reported in the literature and from our group will be presented.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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