Applications of Nanoparticles
Gold Nanoparticle with Antibodies Attached
Relative Sizes of AuNPs and Other Biological Structures
Surface Plasmon Resonance Physics in AuNPs
Nanoparticle Application in Cancer Treatment
Gold's electrons are free, meaning they are able to move. A very precise wavelength of light can cause its electrons to oscillate at the same frequency. This is a property called Surface Plasmon Resonance. This property gives AuNPs the ability to kill tumor cells. AuNPs can be fitted with antibodies that will bind to only cancer cells. Using this specific wavelength of light, the electrons will oscillate and generate heat causing the cancer cell's proteins to denature and/or directly lyse the cell.
Scientists are now working on a type of magnetic nanoparticle to drive drugs straight to a tumor or make a nanoparticle able to heat up to destroy surrounding tissue. The major difference between these nanoparticles and gold is that these are much more multifunctional and controllable. This aim of making nanoparticles multifunctional and controllable seems to be popular among scientists.
Nanoparticle Application in Drug Delivery
Another way nanoparticles can improve health is through targeted drug delivery. Targeted drug delivery involves delivering drugs in a way that some parts of the body receives higher concentrations of the drug than others. This can be useful to eliminate certain side effects because the drugs are only targeting one area of the body.
How do nanoparticles help with this procedure?
Recently, gold nanoparticles have been showing promise in this area. Gold nanoparticles have a set characteristics which make them very advantageous to use for drug delivery. First, they are very biocompatible with human cells. This means that they are not cytotoxic and can bind well with many organic materials. In addition, their size allows for easy transport in the blood stream as well as a high surface area to volume ratio, allowing for more dense drug loading. In addition, its size allows for very efficient penetration of the cell and, because of its biocompatibility, it will not kill the cell. This means that nanoparticles, specifically gold, are capable of very efficiently transporting types of vaccines made of organic material. They prove to be very efficient in transporting DNA vaccines. These relatively new vaccines contain a specific gene which codes for an antigen to a disease and can be directly transported to specific cells using gold.
Gold Nanoparticle Carrying Cancer Treatment Drugs