Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute and Imaging Science Laboratories, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, USA.
Mol Pharm. 2013 Mar 4;10(3):831-47. doi: 10.1021/mp3005885. Epub 2013 Feb 11.
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have a number of physical properties that make them appealing for medical applications. For example, the attenuation of X-rays by gold nanoparticles has led to their use in computed tomography imaging and as adjuvants for radiotherapy. AuNPs have numerous other applications in imaging, therapy and diagnostic systems. The advanced state of synthetic chemistry of gold nanoparticles offers precise control over physicochemical and optical properties. Furthermore gold cores are inert and are considered to be biocompatible and nontoxic. The surface of gold nanoparticles can easily be modified for a specific application, and ligands for targeting, drugs or biocompatible coatings can be introduced. AuNPs can be incorporated into larger structures such as polymeric nanoparticles or liposomes that deliver large payloads for enhanced diagnostic applications, efficiently encapsulate drugs for concurrent therapy or add additional imaging labels. This array of features has led to the aforementioned applications in biomedical fields, but more recently in approaches where multifunctional gold nanoparticles are used for multiple methods, such as concurrent diagnosis and therapy, so-called theranostics. This review covers basic principles and recent findings in gold nanoparticle applications for imaging, therapy and diagnostics, with a focus on reports of multifunctional AuNPs.
金纳米粒子（AuNPs）具有许多物理特性，使其在医学应用中具有吸引力。例如，金纳米粒子对 X 射线的衰减导致它们在计算机断层扫描成像和放射治疗佐剂中的应用。AuNPs 在成像、治疗和诊断系统中有许多其他应用。金纳米粒子的合成化学的先进状态提供了对物理化学和光学性质的精确控制。此外，金核是惰性的，被认为是生物相容和无毒的。金纳米粒子的表面可以很容易地进行修饰，以适应特定的应用，并且可以引入用于靶向、药物或生物相容涂层的配体。AuNPs 可以被整合到更大的结构中，如聚合物纳米粒子或脂质体，以增强诊断应用的有效载荷，高效封装药物进行同时治疗或添加额外的成像标签。这种功能的多样性导致了上述在生物医学领域的应用，但最近在多用途金纳米粒子用于多种方法的方法中，如同时诊断和治疗，所谓的治疗学。这篇综述涵盖了金纳米粒子在成像、治疗和诊断方面的应用的基本原理和最新发现，重点介绍了多功能 AuNPs 的报告。
