NBM rg
Avanços em Nanobiomedicina
REVIEW NBMrg
Gold nanoparticles and their applications
in biomedicine
Alice F Versiani1,2, LÃdia M Andrade2,3, Estefânia MN Martins2,4, Sérgio Scalzo2,5, Jony M Geraldo2,3,6, Claudilene R Chaves3, Daniele C Ferreira2, Marina Ladeira5, Silvia Guatimosim5, Luiz O Ladeira2,3 & Flávio G da Fonseca*,1
1Laboratório de Virologia Básica e Aplicada, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Campus Pampulha, CEP: 31270–901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
2NanoBioMedical Research Group, Departamento de FÃsica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
3Laboratório de Nanomateriais, Departamento de FÃsica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
4Laboratório de QuÃmica de Nanoestruturas de Carbono. Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear - CDTN/CNEN, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
5Laboratório de Sinalização Intracelular, Departamento de Fisiologia e BiofÃsica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
6Departamento de Anatomia por Imagem, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
*Author for correspondence: Tel.: +55 313 409 2746; fdafonseca@icb.ufmg.br
Although used in medical applications for centuries, the development of nanotechnology has shed new light in the plethora of possible medical and biological applications using gold-based nanostructures. Gold nanostructures are stable and relatively inert in biological systems, leading to low reatogenicity, biocompatibility and general lack of toxicity. Allied to that, gold nanoparticles present optical and electronic properties that have been exploited in a range of biomedical applications. In this review we discuss biologically relevant properties of gold nanoparticles and how they are used in some biomedicine fields, especially those involving biosensing of biological analytes – including viruses and antibodies against them, cancer therapies, and antigen delivery, including viral antigens – as part of nonclassic vaccine strategies.