title: Nanoparticle interface to biology: applications in probing and modulating biological processes.
abstract: Nanomaterials can be considered as "pseudo" subcellular entities that are similar to endogenous biomolecules because of their size and ability to interact with other biomolecules. The interaction between nanoparticles and biomolecules gives rise to the nano-bio interface between a nanoparticle and its biological environment. This is often defined in terms of the biomolecules that are present on the surface of the nanoparticles. The nano-bio interface alters the surface characteristics and is what the biological system sees and interacts with. The nanoparticle can thus be viewed as a "scaffold" to which molecules are attached. Intelligent design of this nano-bio interface is therefore crucial to the functionality of nanoscale systems in biology. In this review, we discuss the most common nano-bio interfaces formed from molecules including DNA, polymers, proteins, and antibodies, and discuss their applications in probing and modulating biological processes. We focus our discussion on the nano-bio interface formed on gold nanoparticles as our nanoparticle "scaffold" of interest in part because of our research interest as well as their unique physicochemical properties. While not exhaustive, this review provides a good overview of the latest advances in the use of gold nanomaterial interface to probe and modulate biological processes.
authors.affiliation: Nanomedicine and Nanobiology Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: James Chen Yong
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kah
authors.affiliation: Nanomedicine and Nanobiology Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Eugenia Li Ling
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: Nanomedicine and Nanobiology Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Wee Ling
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Barbara Elodie Ariane
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Poinard
authors.affiliation: Nanomedicine and Nanobiology Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Dawn Jing Hui
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Neo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry; D001686:Biological Phenomena; D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D011506:Proteins; D006046:Gold; D004247:DNA