Application of gold nanoparticles in biomedical and drug delivery

Abstract

Nanoparticles are the simplest form of structures with sizes in the nanometer (nm) range. In principle any collection of atoms bonded together with a structural radius of < 100 nm can be considered nano particles. Nanotechnology offers unique approaches to probe and control a variety of biological and medical processes that occur at nanometer scales, and is expected to have a revolutionary impact on biology and medicine. Among the approaches for exploiting nanotechnology in medicine, nanoparticles offer some unique advantages as sensing, image enhancement, and delivery agents. Several varieties of nanoparticles with biomedical relevance are available including, polymeric nanoparticles, metal nanoparticles, liposomes, micelles, quantum dots, dendrimers, and nanoassemblies. To further the application of nanoparticles in disease diagnosis and therapy, it is important that the systems are biocompatible and capable of being functionalized for recognition of specific target sites in the body after systemic administration. In this review, we have explained some important applications of gold nanoparticles.

Keywords::

• biocompatible
• drug delivery
• gold nanoparticle
• immunoassay
• photothermal

Authors’ contributions

AA conceived of the study and participated in its design and coordination. MK participated in the sequence alignment and drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Science of Tabriz University for all supports provided.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest. The autors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This work is funded by 2014 Drug Applied Research Center Tabriz university of Medical Sciences Grant.