Synthesis of gold nanoparticles and their applications in drug delivery

Abstract

Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing area of research because of its wide biomedical applications. Exploring effective drug-delivery systems in nanomedicine is still a challenging task. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been widely used in drug-delivery systems because of their high stability, high dispersity, tunable monolayers, functional flexibility, non-cytotoxicity, and biocompatibility There are numerous recent reports on the applications of AuNPs in the delivery of antitumor drugs, showing enhanced efficacy of treatment. AuNPs can be functionalized with active targeting ligands to increase their specific binding to the desired drug-delivery systems. This chapter focuses essentially on the synthesis, functionalization strategies, and potential applications of AuNPs in the field of drug delivery. We review current progress with AuNPs in the drug-delivery field, present their unique properties in drug-delivery applications, discuss their toxicity and biological interactions, and suggest future work in this area.