Abstract
Photoluminescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are an emerging class of nanotheranostic agents for biomedical applications due to their unique opto-electronic and physicochemical properties. Ultrasmall luminescent AuNCs are most biocompatible and high renal clearable alternatives to conventional biotracking agents such as organic fluorophores, quantum dots, or other organic dyes. The biofunctionalization of AuNCs helps in increasing the specificity and sensitivity of AuNCs when employed as biosensor systems. Moreover, the sensitization properties of AuNCs further aid their use in various fluorescence image guided therapeutics and image guided drug delivery applications.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Palekar-Shanbhag, P., Jog, S. V., Chogale, M. M., & Gaikwad, S. S. (2013). Theranostics for cancer therapy. Current Drug Delivery, 10, 357–362.
Purohit, B., Kumar, A., Mahato, K., & Chandra, P. (2020). Smartphone-assisted personalized diagnostic devices and wearable sensors. Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, 13, 42–50.
Kulkarni, N. S., Guererro, Y., Gupta, N., Muth, A., & Gupta, V. (2019). Exploring potential of quantum dots as dual modality for cancer therapy and diagnosis. Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, 49, 352–364.
Varnavski, O., Ramakrishna, G., Kim, J., Lee, D., & Goodson, T. (2010). Critical size for the observation of quantum confinement in optically excited gold clusters. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132, 16–17.
Chen, L.-Y., Wang, C.-W., Yuan, Z., & Chang, H.-T. (2015). Fluorescent gold nanoclusters: Recent advances in sensing and imaging. Analytical Chemistry, 87, 216–229.
Shang, L., Dong, S., & Nienhaus, G. U. (2011). Ultra-small fluorescent metal nanoclusters: Synthesis and biological applications. Nano Today, 6(4), 401–418.
Zhang, L., & Wang, E. (2014). Metal nanoclusters: New fluorescent probes for sensors and bioimaging. Nano Today, 9, 132–157.
Palmal, S., & Jana, N. R. (2013). Gold nanoclusters with enhanced tunable fluorescence as bioimaging probes. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology, 6(1), 102–110.
Chen, H., Li, S., Li, B., Ren, X., Li, S., Mahounga, D. M., Cui, S., Gu, Y., & Achilefu, S. (2012). Folate-modified gold nanoclusters as near-infrared fluorescent probes for tumor imaging and therapy. Nanoscale, 4, 6050–6064.
Chen, T.-H., & Tseng, W.-L. (2012). (Lysozyme type VI)-stabilized Au8 clusters: Synthesis mechanism and application for sensing of glutathione in a single drop of blood. Small, 8, 1912–1919.
Shang, L., Dörlich, R. M., Brandholt, S., Schneider, R., Trouillet, V., Bruns, M., Gerthsen, D., & Nienhaus, G. U. (2011). Facile preparation of water-soluble fluorescent gold nanoclusters for cellular imaging applications. Nanoscale, 3, 2009–2014.
Shiang, Y.-C., Huang, C.-C., & Chang, H.-T. (2009). Gold nanodot-based luminescent sensor for the detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose. Chemical Communications, 23, 3437–3439.
Liang, G., **, X., Zhang, S., & **ng, D. (2017). RGD peptide-modified fluorescent gold nanoclusters as highly efficient tumor-targeted radiotherapy sensitizers. Biomaterials, 144, 95–104.
Liu, P., Shang, L., Li, H., Cui, Y., Qin, Y., Wu, Y., Hiltunen, J. K., Chen, Z., & Shen, J. (2014). Synthesis of fluorescent α-chymotrypsin A-functionalized gold nanoclusters and their application to blot-based technology for Hg2+ detection. RSC Advances, 4, 31536–31543.
Triulzi, R. C., Micic, M., Giordani, S., Serry, M., Chiou, W.-A., & Leblanc, R. M. (2006). Immunoasssay based on the antibody-conjugated PAMAM-dendrimer–gold quantum dot complex. Chemical Communications, 28, 5068–5070.
**e, J., Zheng, Y., & Ying, J. Y. (2009). Protein-directed synthesis of highly fluorescent gold nanoclusters. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131, 888–889.
Yang, X., Zhu, S., Dou, Y., Zhuo, Y., Luo, Y., & Feng, Y. (2014). Novel and remarkable enhanced-fluorescence system based on gold nanoclusters for detection of tetracycline. Talanta, 122, 36–42.
Muhammed, M. A. H., Verma, P. K., Pal, S. K., Kumar, R. C. A., Paul, S., Omkumar, R. V., & Pradeep, T. (2009). Bright, NIR-emitting Au23 from Au25: Characterization and applications including biolabeling. Chemistry – A European Journal, 15, 10110–10120.
Zheng, J., Zhang, C., & Dickson, R. M. (2004). Highly fluorescent, water-soluble, size-tunable gold quantum dots. Physical Review Letters, 93, 77402.
Habeeb Muhammed, M. A., Verma, P. K., Pal, S. K., Retnakumari, A., Koyakutty, M., Nair, S., & Pradeep, T. (2010). Luminescent quantum clusters of gold in bulk by albumin-induced core etching of nanoparticles: Metal ion sensing, metal-enhanced luminescence, and biolabeling. Chemistry – A European Journal, 16, 10103–10112.
Leung, N. L. C., **e, N., Yuan, W., Liu, Y., Wu, Q., Peng, Q., Miao, Q., Lam, J. W. Y., & Tang, B. Z. (2014). Restriction of intramolecular motions: The general mechanism behind aggregation-induced emission. Chemistry – A European Journal, 20, 15349–15353.
Mei, J., Hong, Y., Lam, J. W. Y., Qin, A., Tang, Y., & Tang, B. Z. (2014). Aggregation-induced emission: The whole is more brilliant than the parts. Advanced Materials, 26, 5429–5479.
Liu, G., Feng, D.-Q., Hua, D., Liu, T., Qi, G., & Wang, W. (2017). Fluorescence enhancement of terminal amine assembled on gold nanoclusters and its application to ratiometric lysine detection. Langmuir, 33, 14643–14648.
Ma, L., Zhang, M., Yang, A., Wang, Q., Qu, F., Qu, F., & Kong, R.-M. (2018). Sensitive fluorescence detection of heparin based on self-assembly of mesoporous silica nanoparticle–gold nanoclusters with emission enhancement characteristics. Analyst, 143, 5388–5394.
Wu, Z., & **, R. (2010). On the Ligand’s role in the fluorescence of gold nanoclusters. Nano Letters, 10, 2568–2573.
Yang, T. Q., Peng, B., Shan, B. Q., Zong, Y. X., Jiang, J. G., Wu, P., & Zhang, K. (2020). Origin of the photoluminescence of metal nanoclusters: From metal-centered emission to ligand-centered emission. Nanomaterials, 10, 261.
Kumar, A., Purohit, B., Mahato, K., Mahapatra, S., Srivastava, A., & Chandra, P. (2020). Bio-nano-interface engineering strategies of AuNPs passivation for next-generation biomedical applications. In P. Chandra & L. M. Pandey (Eds.), BT - Biointerface engineering: Prospects in medical diagnostics and drug delivery (pp. 215–231). Singapore: Springer Singapore.
Purohit, B., Vernekar, P. R., Shetti, N. P., & Chandra, P. (2020). Biosensor nanoengineering: Design, operation, and implementation for biomolecular analysis. Sensors International, 1, 100040.
Song, X.-R., Goswami, N., Yang, H.-H., & **e, J. (2016). Functionalization of metal nanoclusters for biomedical applications. Analyst, 141, 3126–3140.
Huang, C.-C., Chiang, C.-K., Lin, Z.-H., Lee, K.-H., & Chang, H.-T. (2008). Bioconjugated gold nanodots and nanoparticles for protein assays based on photoluminescence quenching. Analytical Chemistry, 80, 1497–1504.
Fan, Y., Chen, S., Wei, S., Guo, J., & Li, Y. (2020). A simple “on–off–on” ECL sensor for glucose determination based on Pd nanowires and Ag doped g-C3N4 nanosheets. Analytical Methods, 12, 8–17.
**a, N., Wang, X., Zhou, B., Wu, Y., Mao, W., & Liu, L. (2016). Electrochemical detection of amyloid-β oligomers based on the signal amplification of a network of silver nanoparticles. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 8, 19303–19311.
Cheng, Y., Lei, J., Chen, Y., & Ju, H. (2014). Highly selective detection of microRNA based on distance-dependent electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer between CdTe nanocrystals and Au nanoclusters. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 51, 431–436.
Zhao, Q., Huang, H., Zhang, L., Wang, L., Zeng, Y., **a, X., Liu, F., & Chen, Y. (2016). Strategy to fabricate naked-eye readout ultrasensitive plasmonic nanosensor based on enzyme mimetic gold nanoclusters. Analytical Chemistry, 88, 1412–1418.
Feng, J., Huang, P., Shi, S., Deng, K.-Y., & Wu, F.-Y. (2017). Colorimetric detection of glutathione in cells based on peroxidase-like activity of gold nanoclusters: A promising powerful tool for identifying cancer cells. Analytica Chimica Acta, 967, 64–69.
He, W., Zhou, Y.-T., Wamer, W. G., Hu, X., Wu, X., Zheng, Z., Boudreau, M. D., & Yin, J.-J. (2013). Intrinsic catalytic activity of Au nanoparticles with respect to hydrogen peroxide decomposition and superoxide scavenging. Biomaterials, 34, 765–773.
**a, X., Long, Y., & Wang, J. (2013). Glucose oxidase-functionalized fluorescent gold nanoclusters as probes for glucose. Analytica Chimica Acta, 772, 81–86.
Wang, Y., Bai, X., Wen, W., Zhang, X., & Wang, S. (2015). Ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for HIV gene detection based on graphene stabilized gold nanoclusters with exonuclease amplification. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 7, 18872–18879.
Li, Z.-Y., Wu, Y.-T., & Tseng, W.-L. (2015). UV-light-induced improvement of fluorescence quantum yield of DNA-templated gold nanoclusters: Application to ratiometric fluorescent sensing of nucleic acids. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 7, 23708–23716.
Zhou, Y., Tang, L., Zeng, G., Chen, J., Wang, J., Fan, C., Yang, G., Zhang, Y., & **e, X. (2015). Amplified and selective detection of manganese peroxidase genes based on enzyme-scaffolded-gold nanoclusters and mesoporous carbon nitride. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 65, 382–389.
Song, W., Liang, R.-P., Wang, Y., Zhang, L., & Qiu, J.-D. (2015). Green synthesis of peptide-templated gold nanoclusters as novel fluorescence probes for detecting protein kinase activity. Chemical Communications, 51, 10006–10009.
Song, W., Wang, Y., Liang, R.-P., Zhang, L., & Qiu, J.-D. (2015). Label-free fluorescence assay for protein kinase based on peptide biomineralized gold nanoclusters as signal sensing probe. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 64, 234–240.
Hu, L., Han, S., Parveen, S., Yuan, Y., Zhang, L., & Xu, G. (2012). Highly sensitive fluorescent detection of trypsin based on BSA-stabilized gold nanoclusters. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 32, 297–299.
Yang, G.-H., Shi, J.-J., Wang, S., **ong, W.-W., Jiang, L.-P., Burda, C., & Zhu, J.-J. (2013). Fabrication of a boron nitride–gold nanocluster composite and its versatile application for immunoassays. Chemical Communications, 49, 10757–10759.
Alonso, M. C., Trapiella-Alfonso, L., Fernández, J. M. C., Pereiro, R., & Sanz-Medel, A. (2016). Functionalized gold nanoclusters as fluorescent labels for immunoassays: Application to human serum immunoglobulin E determination. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 77, 1055–1061.
Qin, L., He, X., Chen, L., & Zhang, Y. (2015). Turn-on fluorescent sensing of glutathione S-transferase at near-infrared region based on FRET between gold nanoclusters and gold nanorods. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 7, 5965–5971.
Zhang, J., Sajid, M., Na, N., Huang, L., He, D., & Ouyang, J. (2012). The application of au nanoclusters in the fluorescence imaging of human serum proteins after native PAGE: Enhancing detection by low-temperature plasma treatment. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 35, 313–318.
Nguyen, P.-D., Cong, V. T., Baek, C., & Min, J. (2017). Fabrication of peptide stabilized fluorescent gold nanocluster/graphene oxide nanocomplex and its application in turn-on detection of metalloproteinase-9. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 89, 666–672.
Deng, H.-H., Deng, Q., Li, K.-L., Zhuang, Q.-Q., Zhuang, Y.-B., Peng, H.-P., **a, X.-H., & Chen, W. (2020). Fluorescent gold nanocluster-based sensor for detection of alkaline phosphatase in human osteosarcoma cells. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 229, 117875.
Chen, L.-Y., Huang, C.-C., Chen, W.-Y., Lin, H.-J., & Chang, H.-T. (2013). Using photoluminescent gold nanodots to detect hemoglobin in diluted blood samples. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 43, 38–44.
Selvaprakash, K., & Chen, Y.-C. (2017). Detection of ricin by using gold nanoclusters functionalized with chicken egg white proteins as sensing probes. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 92, 410–416.
Yu, H., Liu, Y., Wang, J., Liang, Q., Liu, H., Xu, J., & Shao, S. (2017). A gold nanocluster-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for cysteine and homocysteine detection in living cells. New Journal of Chemistry, 41, 4416–4423.
Wang, M., Mei, Q., Zhang, K., & Zhang, Z. (2012). Protein-gold nanoclusters for identification of amino acids by metal ions modulated ratiometric fluorescence. Analyst, 137, 1618–1623.
Liu, Y., Ding, D., Zhen, Y., & Guo, R. (2017). Amino acid-mediated “turn-off/turn-on” nanozyme activity of gold nanoclusters for sensitive and selective detection of copper ions and histidine. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 92, 140–146.
Wen, F., Dong, Y., Feng, L., Wang, S., Zhang, S., & Zhang, X. (2011). Horseradish peroxidase functionalized fluorescent gold nanoclusters for hydrogen peroxide sensing. Analytical Chemistry, 83, 1193–1196.
**, L., Shang, L., Guo, S., Fang, Y., Wen, D., Wang, L., Yin, J., & Dong, S. (2011). Biomolecule-stabilized Au nanoclusters as a fluorescence probe for sensitive detection of glucose. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 26, 1965–1969.
Deng, H.-H., Wu, G.-W., He, D., Peng, H.-P., Liu, A.-L., **a, X.-H., & Chen, W. (2015). Fenton reaction-mediated fluorescence quenching of N-acetyl-l-cysteine-protected gold nanoclusters: Analytical applications of hydrogen peroxide, glucose, and catalase detection. Analyst, 140, 7650–7656.
Tao, Y., Lin, Y., Ren, J., & Qu, X. (2013). A dual fluorometric and colorimetric sensor for dopamine based on BSA-stabilized aunanoclusters. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 42, 41–46.
Aswathy, B., & Sony, G. (2014). Cu2+ modulated BSA–Au nanoclusters: A versatile fluorescence turn-on sensor for dopamine. Microchemical Journal, 116, 151–156.
Govindaraju, S., Ankireddy, S. R., Viswanath, B., Kim, J., & Yun, K. (2017). Fluorescent gold nanoclusters for selective detection of dopamine in cerebrospinal fluid. Scientific Reports, 7, 40298.
Li, L., Liu, H., Shen, Y., Zhang, J., & Zhu, J.-J. (2011). Electrogenerated chemiluminescence of Au nanoclusters for the detection of dopamine. Analytical Chemistry, 83, 661–665.
Hemmateenejad, B., Shakerizadeh-shirazi, F., & Samari, F. (2014). BSA-modified gold nanoclusters for sensing of folic acid. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 199, 42–46.
Yan, X., Li, H., Cao, B., Ding, Z., & Su, X. (2015). A highly sensitive dual-readout assay based on gold nanoclusters for folic acid detection. Microchimica Acta, 182, 1281–1288.
Peng, H.-P., Jian, M.-L., Huang, Z.-N., Wang, W.-J., Deng, H.-H., Wu, W.-H., Liu, A.-L., **a, X.-H., & Chen, W. (2018). Facile electrochemiluminescence sensing platform based on high-quantum-yield gold nanocluster probe for ultrasensitive glutathione detection. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 105, 71–76.
Tian, D., Qian, Z., **a, Y., & Zhu, C. (2012). Gold nanocluster-based fluorescent probes for near-infrared and turn-on sensing of glutathione in living cells. Langmuir, 28, 3945–3951.
Nair, L. V., Philips, D. S., Jayasree, R. S., & Ajayaghosh, A. (2013). A near-infrared fluorescent nanosensor (AuC@urease) for the selective detection of blood urea. Small, 9, 2673–2677.
Liu, Y., Li, H., Guo, B., Wei, L., Chen, B., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Gold nanoclusters as switch-off fluorescent probe for detection of uric acid based on the inner filter effect of hydrogen peroxide-mediated enlargement of gold nanoparticles. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 91, 734–740.
Li, P.-H., Lin, J.-Y., Chen, C.-T., Ciou, W.-R., Chan, P.-H., Luo, L., Hsu, H.-Y., Diau, E. W.-G., & Chen, Y.-C. (2012). Using gold nanoclusters as selective luminescent probes for phosphate-containing metabolites. Analytical Chemistry, 84, 5484–5488.
Selvaprakash, K., & Chen, Y.-C. (2014). Using protein-encapsulated gold nanoclusters as photoluminescent sensing probes for biomolecules. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 61, 88–94.
Chang, H.-C., & Ho, J. A. (2015). Gold nanocluster-assisted fluorescent detection for hydrogen peroxide and cholesterol based on the inner filter effect of gold nanoparticles. Analytical Chemistry, 87, 10362–10367.
Chen, X., & Baker, G. A. (2013). Cholesterol determination using protein-templated fluorescent gold nanocluster probes. Analyst, 138, 7299–7302.
Liu, J.-M., Chen, J.-T., & Yan, X.-P. (2013). Near infrared fluorescent trypsin stabilized gold nanoclusters as surface plasmon enhanced energy transfer biosensor and in vivo cancer imaging bioprobe. Analytical Chemistry, 85, 3238–3245.
Samari, F., Hemmateenejad, B., Rezaei, Z., & Shamsipur, M. (2012). A novel approach for rapid determination of vitamin B12 in pharmaceutical preparations using BSA-modified gold nanoclusters. Analytical Methods, 4, 4155–4160.
Chen, Z., Qian, S., Chen, X., Gao, W., & Lin, Y. (2012). Protein-templated gold nanoclusters as fluorescence probes for the detection of methotrexate. Analyst, 137, 4356–4361.
Chen, Z., Qian, S., Chen, J., Cai, J., Wu, S., & Cai, Z. (2012). Protein-templated gold nanoclusters based sensor for off-on detection of ciprofloxacin with a high selectivity. Talanta, 94, 240–245.
Yu, Y., New, S. Y., **e, J., Su, X., & Tan, Y. N. (2014). Protein-based fluorescent metal nanoclusters for small molecular drug screening. Chemical Communications, 50, 13805–13808.
**e, J., Zheng, Y., & Ying, J. Y. (2010). Highly selective and ultrasensitive detection of Hg2+ based on fluorescence quenching of Au nanoclusters by Hg2+–Au+ interactions. Chemical Communications, 46, 961–963.
Lin, Y.-H., & Tseng, W.-L. (2010). Ultrasensitive sensing of Hg2+ and CH3Hg+ based on the fluorescence quenching of lysozyme type VI-stabilized gold nanoclusters. Analytical Chemistry, 82, 9194–9200.
Li, Y., Yuan, M., Khan, A. J., Wang, L., & Zhang, F. (2019). Peptide-gold nanocluster synthesis and intracellular Hg2+ sensing. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 579, 123666.
Shang, L., Yang, L., Stockmar, F., Popescu, R., Trouillet, V., Bruns, M., Gerthsen, D., & Nienhaus, G. U. (2012). Microwave-assisted rapid synthesis of luminescent gold nanoclusters for sensing Hg2+ in living cells using fluorescence imaging. Nanoscale, 4, 4155–4160.
Zang, J., Li, C., Zhou, K., Dong, H., Chen, B., Wang, F., & Zhao, G. (2016). Nanomolar Hg2+ detection using β-lactoglobulin-stabilized fluorescent gold nanoclusters in beverage and biological media. Analytical Chemistry, 88, 10275–10283.
Thakur, N. S., Mandal, N., & Banerjee, U. C. (2018). Esterase-mediated highly fluorescent gold nanoclusters and their use in ultrasensitive detection of mercury: Synthetic and mechanistic aspects. ACS Omega, 3, 18553–18562.
He, Y., Du, E., Zhou, X., Zhou, J., He, Y., Ye, Y., Wang, J., Tang, B., & Wang, X. (2020). Wet-spinning of fluorescent fibers based on gold nanoclusters-loaded alginate for sensing of heavy metal ions and anti-counterfeiting. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 230, 118031.
Xu, S., Li, X., Mao, Y., Gao, T., Feng, X., & Luo, X. (2016). Novel dual ligand co-functionalized fluorescent gold nanoclusters as a versatile probe for sensitive analysis of Hg2+ and oxytetracycline. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 408, 2955–2962.
Yang, X., Yang, L., Dou, Y., & Zhu, S. (2013). Synthesis of highly fluorescent lysine-stabilized Au nanoclusters for sensitive and selective detection of Cu2+ ion. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 1, 6748–6751.
Shamsipur, M., Molaabasi, F., Shanehsaz, M., & Moosavi-Movahedi, A. A. (2015). Novel blue-emitting gold nanoclusters confined in human hemoglobin, and their use as fluorescent probes for copper(II) and histidine. Microchimica Acta, 182, 1131–1141.
Durgadas, C. V., Sharma, C. P., & Sreenivasan, K. (2011). Fluorescent gold clusters as nanosensors for copper ions in live cells. Analyst, 136, 933–940.
Bain, D., Maity, S., Paramanik, B., & Patra, A. (2018). Core-size dependent fluorescent gold nanoclusters and ultrasensitive detection of Pb2+ ion. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 6, 2334–2343.
Peng, Y., Wang, M., **aoxia, W., Wang, F., & Liu, L. (2018). Methionine-capped gold nanoclusters as a fluorescence-enhanced probe for cadmium(II) sensing. Sensors, 18, 658.
Huang, P., Li, S., Gao, N., & Wu, F. (2015). Toward selective, sensitive, and discriminative detection of Hg2+ and Cd2+via pH-modulated surface chemistry of glutathione-capped gold nanoclusters. Analyst, 140, 7313–7321.
Akshath, U. S., Bhatt, P., & Singh, S. A. (2020). Differential interaction of metal ions with gold nanoclusters and application in detection of cobalt and cadmium. Journal of Fluorescence, 30, 537–545.
Yu, M., Zhu, Z., Wang, H., Li, L., Fu, F., Song, Y., & Song, E. (2017). Antibiotics mediated facile one-pot synthesis of gold nanoclusters as fluorescent sensor for ferric ions. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 91, 143–148.
Liu, Y., Ai, K., Cheng, X., Huo, L., & Lu, L. (2010). Gold-nanocluster-based fluorescent sensors for highly sensitive and selective detection of cyanide in water. Advanced Functional Materials, 20, 951–956.
Chen, T., Hu, Y., Cen, Y., Chu, X., & Lu, Y. (2013). A dual-emission fluorescent nanocomplex of gold-cluster-decorated silica particles for live cell imaging of highly reactive oxygen species. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 135, 11595–11602.
Zhuang, M., Ding, C., Zhu, A., & Tian, Y. (2014). Ratiometric fluorescence probe for monitoring hydroxyl radical in live cells based on gold nanoclusters. Analytical Chemistry, 86, 1829–1836.
Cui, M.-L., Liu, J.-M., Wang, X.-X., Lin, L.-P., Jiao, L., Zheng, Z.-Y., Zhang, L.-H., & Jiang, S.-L. (2013) A promising gold nanocluster fluorescent sensor for the highly sensitive and selective detection of S2-. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 188, 53–58
Yuan, Z., Peng, M., Shi, L., Du, Y., Cai, N., He, Y., Chang, H.-T., & Yeung, E. S. (2013). Disassembly mediated fluorescence recovery of gold nanodots for selective sulfide sensing. Nanoscale, 5, 4683–4686.
Liu, H., Yang, G., Abdel-Halim, E. S., & Zhu, J.-J. (2013). Highly selective and ultrasensitive detection of nitrite based on fluorescent gold nanoclusters. Talanta, 104, 135–139.
Unnikrishnan, B., Wei, S.-C., Chiu, W.-J., Cang, J., Hsu, P.-H., & Huang, C.-C. (2014). Nitrite ion-induced fluorescence quenching of luminescent BSA-Au25 nanoclusters: Mechanism and application. Analyst, 139, 2221–2228.
Yu, M., Zhou, C., Liu, J., Hankins, J. D., & Zheng, J. (2011). Luminescent gold nanoparticles with pH-dependent membrane adsorption. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 133, 11014–11017.
Ding, C., & Tian, Y. (2015). Gold nanocluster-based fluorescence biosensor for targeted imaging in cancer cells and ratiometric determination of intracellular pH. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 65, 183–190.
Shang, L., Stockmar, F., Azadfar, N., & Nienhaus, G. U. (2013). Intracellular thermometry by using fluorescent gold nanoclusters. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 52, 11154–11157.
Kong, L., Chu, X., Ling, X., Ma, G., Yao, Y., Meng, Y., & Liu, W. (2016). Biocompatible glutathione-capped gold nanoclusters for dual fluorescent sensing and imaging of copper(II) and temperature in human cells and bacterial cells. Microchimica Acta, 183, 2185–2195.
Gu, W., Zhang, Q., Zhang, T., Li, Y., **ang, J., Peng, R., & Liu, J. (2016). Hybrid polymeric nano-capsules loaded with gold nanoclusters and indocyanine green for dual-modal imaging and photothermal therapy. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 4, 910–919.
Zhang, Y., Li, J., Jiang, H., Zhao, C., & Wang, X. (2016). Rapid tumor bioimaging and photothermal treatment based on GSH-capped red fluorescent gold nanoclusters. RSC Advances, 6, 63331–63337.
Lee, S., Lee, C., Park, S., Lim, K., Kim, S. S., Kim, J. O., Lee, E. S., Oh, K. T., Choi, H.-G., & Youn, Y. S. (2018). Facile fabrication of highly photothermal-effective albumin-assisted gold nanoclusters for treating breast cancer. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 553, 363–374.
Nair, L. V., Nazeer, S. S., Jayasree, R. S., & Ajayaghosh, A. (2015). Fluorescence imaging assisted photodynamic therapy using photosensitizer-linked gold quantum clusters. ACS Nano, 9, 5825–5832.
Huang, P., Lin, J., Wang, S., Zhou, Z., Li, Z., Wang, Z., Zhang, C., Yue, X., Niu, G., Yang, M., Cui, D., & Chen, X. (2013). Photosensitizer-conjugated silica-coated gold nanoclusters for fluorescence imaging-guided photodynamic therapy. Biomaterials, 34, 4643–4654.
Zhang, C., Li, C., Liu, Y., Zhang, J., Bao, C., Liang, S., Wang, Q., Yang, Y., Fu, H., Wang, K., & Cui, D. (2015). Gold nanoclusters-based nanoprobes for simultaneous fluorescence imaging and targeted photodynamic therapy with superior penetration and retention behavior in tumors. Advanced Functional Materials, 25, 1314–1325.
Vankayala, R., Kuo, C.-L., Nuthalapati, K., Chiang, C.-S., & Hwang, K. C. (2015). Nucleus-targeting gold nanoclusters for simultaneous in vivo fluorescence imaging, gene delivery, and NIR-light activated photodynamic therapy. Advanced Functional Materials, 25, 5934–5945.
Han, R., Zhao, M., Wang, Z., Liu, H., Zhu, S., Huang, L., Wang, Y., Wang, L., Hong, Y., Sha, Y., & Jiang, Y. (2019). Super-efficient in vivo two-photon photodynamic therapy with a gold nanocluster as a type I photosensitizer. ACS Nano. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b05169.
Zhang, X.-D., Chen, J., Luo, Z., Wu, D., Shen, X., Song, S.-S., Sun, Y.-M., Liu, P.-X., Zhao, J., Huo, S., Fan, S., Fan, F., Liang, X.-J., & **e, J. (2014). Enhanced tumor accumulation of Sub-2 nm gold nanoclusters for Cancer radiation therapy. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 3, 133–141.
Zhang, X.-D., Luo, Z., Chen, J., Shen, X., Song, S., Sun, Y., Fan, S., Fan, F., Leong, D. T., & **e, J. (2014). Ultrasmall Au10−12(SG)10−12 nanomolecules for high tumor specificity and cancer radiotherapy. Advanced Materials, 26, 4565–4568.
Zhang, X.-D., Luo, Z., Chen, J., Song, S., Yuan, X., Shen, X., Wang, H., Sun, Y., Gao, K., Zhang, L., Fan, S., Leong, D. T., Guo, M., & **e, J. (2015). Ultrasmall glutathione-protected gold nanoclusters as next generation radiotherapy sensitizers with high tumor uptake and high renal clearance. Scientific Reports, 5, 8669.
Wang, J.-Y., Chen, J., Yang, J., Wang, H., Shen, X., Sun, Y.-M., Guo, M., & Zhang, X.-D. (2016). Effects of surface charges of gold nanoclusters on long-term in vivo biodistribution, toxicity, and cancer radiation therapy. International Journal of Nanomedicine, 11, 3475–3485.
Cifuentes-Rius, A., Ivask, A., Das, S., Penya-Auladell, N., Fabregas, L., Fletcher, N. L., Houston, Z. H., Thurecht, K. J., & Voelcker, N. H. (2017). Gold nanocluster-mediated cellular death under electromagnetic radiation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9, 41159–41167.
Amini, S. M., Kharrazi, S., & Jaafari, M. R. (2017). Radio frequency hyperthermia of cancerous cells with gold nanoclusters: An in vitro investigation. Gold Bulletin, 50, 43–50.
Gao, G., Chen, R., He, M., Li, J., Li, J., Wang, L., & Sun, T. (2019). Gold nanoclusters for Parkinson’s disease treatment. Biomaterials, 194, 36–46.
Hu, J., Gao, G., He, M., Yin, Q., Gao, X., Xu, H., & Sun, T. (2020). Optimal route of gold nanoclusters administration in mice targeting Parkinson’s disease. Nanomedicine, 15, 563–580.
Gao, G., Zhang, M., Gong, D., Chen, R., Hu, X., & Sun, T. (2017). The size-effect of gold nanoparticles and nanoclusters in the inhibition of amyloid-β fibrillation. Nanoscale, 9, 4107–4113.
**ao, L., Wei, F., Zhou, Y., Anderson, G. J., Frazer, D. M., Lim, Y. C., Liu, T., & **ao, Y. (2020). Dihydrolipoic acid–gold nanoclusters regulate microglial polarization and have the potential to alter neurogenesis. Nano Letters, 20, 478–495.
Chattoraj, S., Amin, A., Jana, B., Mohapatra, S., Ghosh, S., & Bhattacharyya, K. (2016). Selective killing of breast cancer cells by doxorubicin-loaded fluorescent gold nanoclusters: Confocal microscopy and FRET. ChemPhysChem, 17, 253–259.
Khandelia, R., Bhandari, S., Pan, U. N., Ghosh, S. S., & Chattopadhyay, A. (2015). Gold nanocluster embedded albumin nanoparticles for two-photon imaging of cancer cells accompanying drug delivery. Small, 11, 4075–4081.
Li, L., Zhang, L., Wang, T., Wu, X., Ren, H., Wang, C., & Su, Z. (2015). Facile and scalable synthesis of novel spherical au nanocluster assemblies@polyacrylic acid/calcium phosphate nanoparticles for dual-modal imaging-guided cancer chemotherapy. Small, 11, 3162–3173.
Li, Q., Pan, Y., Chen, T., Du, Y., Ge, H., Zhang, B., **e, J., Yu, H., & Zhu, M. (2018). Design and mechanistic study of a novel gold nanocluster-based drug delivery system. Nanoscale, 10, 10166–10172.
Zhou, F., Feng, B., Yu, H., Wang, D., Wang, T., Liu, J., Meng, Q., Wang, S., Zhang, P., Zhang, Z., & Li, Y. (2016). Cisplatin prodrug-conjugated gold nanocluster for fluorescence imaging and targeted therapy of the breast cancer. Theranostics, 6, 679–687.
Chen, D., Luo, Z., Li, N., Lee, J. Y., **e, J., & Lu, J. (2013). Amphiphilic polymeric nanocarriers with luminescent gold nanoclusters for concurrent bioimaging and controlled drug release. Advanced Functional Materials, 23, 4324–4331.
Tao, Y., Li, Z., Ju, E., Ren, J., & Qu, X. (2013). Polycations-functionalized water-soluble gold nanoclusters: A potential platform for simultaneous enhanced gene delivery and cell imaging. Nanoscale, 5, 6154–6160.
Wang, P., Lin, L., Guo, Z., Chen, J., Tian, H., Chen, X., & Yang, H. (2016). Highly fluorescent gene carrier based on Ag–Au alloy nanoclusters. Macromolecular Bioscience, 16, 160–167.
Dutta, D., Chattopadhyay, A., & Ghosh, S. S. (2016). Cationic BSA templated Au–Ag bimetallic nanoclusters as a theranostic gene delivery vector for HeLa cancer cells. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2, 2090–2098.
Lei, Y., Tang, L., **e, Y., **anyu, Y., Zhang, L., Wang, P., Hamada, Y., Jiang, K., Zheng, W., & Jiang, X. (2017). Gold nanoclusters-assisted delivery of NGF siRNA for effective treatment of pancreatic cancer. Nature Communications, 8, 15130.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sood, K., Shanavas, A. (2022). Gold Nanoclusters as Emerging Theranostic Interventions for Biomedical Applications. In: Borse, V., Chandra, P., Srivastava, R. (eds) BioSensing, Theranostics, and Medical Devices. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2782-8_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2782-8_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-2781-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-2782-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)