Question

Describe briefly drug delivery using gold nanoparticles

Answer 1

GNPs (gold nanoparticles) have been used as nanobiomaterials for molecular imaging and drug delivery in recent years. Gold nanoparticle conjugates express unique properties such as increased binding affinity and selective targeting to specific tissue or cells when delivered systemically.Because gold nanoparticles can be modified in different ways by binding specific receptors coupled with various forms of therapeutics, there is a wide range of research and nanoparticle-based therapeutic methods under development for cancer. The delivery of GNP-conjugated drugs have a higher perfusion rate in targeting tumor foci, leading to reducing antitumor drug dosage for treatments and lower toxicity to normal tissues coupled with less side effects

In general, gold nanoparticles are synthesized by the chemical reduction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) using reducing agents. Gold nanoparticles exhibit a combined feature of chemical, physical, optical, and electronic properties and may be applied as a new platform to bring about benefits in various fields, such as medicine

Because of the unique property of a wide range of core sizes from 1 nm to 150 nm, GNPs can be easily modified with controlled dispersal. Therefore, GNPs have a great potential to be used as a drug delivery system for efficient drug transport into different cell types shown in figure

Different types of gold nanoparticles commonly used in anticancer diagnosis and therapeutic applications are shown.