title: Gold nanoparticles for the development of clinical diagnosis methods.
abstract: The impact of advances in nanotechnology is particularly relevant in biodiagnostics, where nanoparticle-based assays have been developed for specific detection of bioanalytes of clinical interest. Gold nanoparticles show easily tuned physical properties, including unique optical properties, robustness, and high surface areas, making them ideal candidates for developing biomarker platforms. Modulation of these physicochemical properties can be easily achieved by adequate synthetic strategies and give gold nanoparticles advantages over conventional detection methods currently used in clinical diagnostics. The surface of gold nanoparticles can be tailored by ligand functionalization to selectively bind biomarkers. Thiol-linking of DNA and chemical functionalization of gold nanoparticles for specific protein/antibody binding are the most common approaches. Simple and inexpensive methods based on these bio-nanoprobes were initially applied for detection of specific DNA sequences and are presently being expanded to clinical diagnosis. Figure Colorimetric DNA/RNA detection using salt induced aggregation of AuNP-DNA nanoprobes.
authors.affiliation: CIGMH/Dept. Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.forename: Eulália
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.forename: Gonçalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Doria
authors.forename: Adelaide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.forename: Inês
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Quaresma
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franco
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019963:Clinical Chemistry Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D012313:RNA; D006046:Gold; D004247:DNA