From Synthesis to Applications of Biomolecule-protected Luminescent Gold Nanoclusters

Overview

Journal Anal Bioanal Chem

Specialty Chemistry

Date 2024 May 5

PMID 38705905

Authors

Jiafeng Qiu

Faisal Ahmad

Jianxin Ma

Yanping Sun

Ying Liu

Yelan Xiao

Long Xu

Tong Shu

Xueji Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are a class of novel luminescent nanomaterials that exhibit unique properties of ultra-small size, featuring strong anti-photo-bleaching ability, substantial Stokes shift, good biocompatibility, and low toxicity. Various biomolecules have been developed as templates or ligands to protect AuNCs with enhanced stability and luminescent properties for biomedical applications. In this review, the synthesis of AuNCs based on biomolecules including amino acids, peptides, proteins and DNA are summarized. Owing to the advantages of biomolecule-protected AuNCs, they have been employed extensively for diverse applications. The biological applications, particularly in bioimaging, biosensing, disease therapy and biocatalysis have been described in detail herein. Finally, current challenges and future potential prospects of bio-templated AuNCs in biological research are briefly discussed.

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