Functional Gold Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

Abstract Subjects of the present dissertation are the synthesis, the functionalization and the characterization of colloidal gold nanoparticles. The employed nanoparticles consist of an inorganic Au core of approximately 5 nm diameter, which is stabilized by hydrophobic surface molecules. To transf...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hühn, Dominik
Contributors: Parak, Wolfgang (Prof. Dr.) (Thesis advisor)
Format: Doctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: Philipps-Universität Marburg 2014
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Summary:Abstract Subjects of the present dissertation are the synthesis, the functionalization and the characterization of colloidal gold nanoparticles. The employed nanoparticles consist of an inorganic Au core of approximately 5 nm diameter, which is stabilized by hydrophobic surface molecules. To transfer the nanoparticles to aqueous environments (an indispensable necessity for biomedical applications) they are coated with an amphiphilic polymer, which generates water solubility and moreover gives the ability for further functionalization. The physico-chemical properties of such nanoparticles are verified within different purposes: First, several fundamental intrinsic surface properties are quantified, including the establishment of pH titration as characterization tool. It is found that the carboxylic groups, responsible for the colloidal stabilization, partly have different properties (like their pKa) compared to free standing carboxylic acids. These findings are crucial for the colloidal stabilization of nanoparticles as well as for their further functionalization. Secondly, two species of fluorescently labeled nanoparticles, which differed in first order only in the net surface charge, are employed to study charge dependent interaction of nanoparticles with biological systems, including proteins as well as living cells. The main finding is, that a so called protein corona forms around nanoparticles, what has far-reaching impacts on cell internalization abilities. Moreover it is found that positively charged nanoparticles show a higher cell association as well as a higher toxicity. Thirdly, nanoparticles are modified towards sensing applications by surface functionalization with ion sensitive dyes. Positively charged nanoparticles are modified with a Cl- sensitive dye and negatively charged nanoparticles are modified with a Zn2+ sensitive dye. The goals of the dissertation can be synoptically depicted as: 1) Extension of the existing techniques for nanoparticle functionalization, particularly regarding new types of functional polymers. 2) A fundamental and comprehensive characterization of nanoparticles ranging from the verification of intrinsic, physico-chemical properties to biomedical applications.
DOI:10.17192/z2014.0218