Gold nanoparticles and vaccine development

Mucosal vaccines constitute an advantageous immunization approach to achieve broad immunization against widespread diseases; however, improvements in this field are still required to expand their exploitation. As gold nanoparticles are biocompatible and can be easily functionalized with antigens, they have been proposed as carriers for the delivery of vaccines. The study of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in vaccinology has been of interest for a number of research groups in recent years and important advances have been made. This review provides a summary of the AuNPs synthesis methodologies and an updated overview of the current AuNPs-based vaccines under development. The implications of these advances for the development of new mucosal vaccines as well as future prospects for the field are discussed.