Gold Nanoparticles in Conjunction with Nucleic Acids as a Modern Molecular System for Cellular Delivery

Abstract

Development of nanotechnology has become prominent in many fields, such as medicine, electronics, production of materials, and modern drugs. Nanomaterials and nanoparticles have gained recognition owing to the unique biochemical and physical properties. Considering cellular application, it is speculated that nanoparticles can transfer through cell membranes following different routes exclusively owing to their size (up to 100 nm) and surface functionalities. Nanoparticles have capacity to enter cells by themselves but also to carry other molecules through the lipid bilayer. This quality has been utilized in cellular delivery of substances like small chemical drugs or nucleic acids. Different nanoparticles including lipids, silica, and metal nanoparticles have been exploited in conjugation with nucleic acids. However, the noble metal nanoparticles create an alternative, out of which gold nanoparticles (AuNP) are the most common. The hybrids of DNA or RNA and metal nanoparticles can be employed for functional assemblies for variety of applications in medicine, diagnostics or nano-electronics by means of biomarkers, specific imaging probes, or gene expression regulatory function. In this review, we focus on the conjugates of gold nanoparticles and nucleic acids in the view of their potential application for cellular delivery and biomedicine. This review covers the current advances in the nanotechnology of DNA and RNA-AuNP conjugates and their potential applications. We emphasize the crucial role of metal nanoparticles in the nanotechnology of nucleic acids and explore the role of such conjugates in the biological systems. Finally, mechanisms guiding the process of cellular intake, essential for delivery of modern therapeutics, will be discussed.

Role of gold nanoparticles in advanced biomedical applications

“…209,295 In the case of nucleic acid conjugation, the electrostatic interactions between the nucleic acid and GNPs have been explored most. 296 Furthermore, the delivery of nucleic acids via GNPs can be improved by modication of GNPs with charge-reversal polymers; the charge reversal of such polymers depends upon the pH value of the surrounding environment. 209 Moreover, permeation and retention both are improved in the case of GNPs.…”

Progress in the molecular pathogenesis and nucleic acid therapeutics for Parkinson's disease in the precision medicine era

“…Blood–brain barrier‐penetrating peptides bearing the anti‐transferrin receptor antibody 272 and transferrin‐containing nanoparticles 273 promote the entry of therapeutic cargos into the CNS by absorptive transcytosis. Other nanoparticle‐nucleic acid delivery systems, such as spherical nucleic acids (gold nanoparticles) 274 and ASO‐liquid nanocapsules 275 are also being investigated to deliver nucleic acids across the blood–brain barrier (Figure 4). Spherical nucleic acids are generally composed of gold nanoparticles at the core and a dense layer of thiol‐modified oligonucleotide in the shell, which render spherical nucleic acids more resistant to degradation compared to linear nucleic acids 276 .…”

Synthesis of 7, 8 –dihydroxyflavone functionalized gold nanoparticles and its mechanism of action against Leishmania donovani

“…Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are the most widely studied metal NPs because of their contribution to various applications [1]. Due to ease of surface modi cation and biocompatibility, GNPs emerge as an attractive candidate for delivering small molecules [2], antimicrobial agents [3], peptides [4], proteins [5] and nucleic acids [6] to their targets. GNP-based drug delivery is popular due to the ease of GNPs functionalization with antimicrobial agents, biological or chemical methods of synthesis, controlled drug delivery, and multiple-targets of biological action with their ability to penetrate biological membranes.…”