Nanogold-Based Materials in Medicine: From Their Origins to Their Future

Abstract

The properties of gold-based materials have been explored for centuries in several research fields, including medicine. Multiple published production methods for gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have shown that the physicochemical and optical properties of AuNPs depend on the production method used. These different AuNP properties have allowed exploration of their usefulness in countless distinct biomedical applications over the last few years. Here we present an extensive overview of the most commonly used AuNP production methods, the resulting distinct properties of the AuNPs and the potential application of these AuNPs in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in biomedicine.

Graphical abstract

Keywords::

• biomedical research
• gold
• gold nanomaterials
• photothermal therapy

Author contributions

Conceptualization, D Ferreira, H Ferreira and C Reis; methodology and formal analysis, T Ferreira-Gonçalves; writing (original draft preparation), T Ferreira-Gonçalves; writing (review and editing), T Ferreira-Gonçalves, D Ferreira, H Ferreira and C Reis; supervision, D Ferreira, H Ferreira and C Reis. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal under the project reference UIDB/00645/2020 and UID/DTP/04138/2020. T Ferreira-Gonçalves was supported by FCT, Portugal under the reference SFRH/BD/147306/2019. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank E Ntungwe for her assistance in editing the language of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal under the project reference UIDB/00645/2020 and UID/DTP/04138/2020. T Ferreira-Gonçalves was supported by FCT, Portugal under the reference SFRH/BD/147306/2019. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.