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Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Synthesis of Functionalized 10-nm Polymer-coated Gold Particles for Endothelium Targeting and Drug Delivery
Published on: January 15, 2018
PEG-coated gold nanoparticles attenuate β-adrenergic receptor-mediated cardiac hypertrophy
Yuhui Qiao1, Baoling Zhu1, Aiju Tian1
1Department of Cardiology, Institute of Vascular Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptides, Ministry of Health, Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education and Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Receptors Research, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are widely used as a drug delivery vehicle, which can accumulate in the heart through blood circulation. Therefore, it is very important to understand the effect of AuNPs on the heart, especially under pathological conditions. In this study, we found that PEG-coated AuNPs attenuate β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR)-mediated acute cardiac hypertrophy and inflammation. However, both isoproterenol, a non-selective β-AR agonist, and AuNPs did not induce cardiac function change or cardiac fibrosis. AuNPs exerted an anti-cardiac hypertrophy effect by decreasing β1-AR expression and its downstream ERK1/2 hypertrophic pathway. Our results indicated that AuNPs might be safe and have the potential to be used as multi-functional materials (drug carrier systems and anti-cardiac hypertrophy agents).
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