Biodegradable nano-architectures containing gold nanoparticles arrays. Issue 30 (16th June 2016) - Cassano, Domenico
ABSTRACT: One of the major concerns regarding the clinical translation of metal nanoparticles is related to the question of their persistence in organisms that can increase the likelihood of toxicity and the interaction/interference with common medical diagnoses. In order to overcome these issues we have recently introduced a versatile 90 nm nano-architecture composed by: i) arrays of 3 nm gold nanoparticles, ii) functionalizable commercial polymers surrounding the gold nanoparticles, and iii) biodegradable and derivatizable silica shell embedding the polymer-nanoparticle assembly. These robust nanocapsules maintain the intriguing features of gold nanospheres but are biodegraded in physiological media to their potentially renal clearable building blocks.