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Updated: Feb 16, 2026
Synthesis of Near-Infrared Emitting Gold Nanoclusters for Biological Applications
Published on: March 22, 2020
Green synthesis of bioactive polysaccharide-capped gold nanoparticles for lymph node CT imaging
Saji Uthaman1, Hyeon Sik Kim2, Vishnu Revuri3
1Department of Biomedical Science, BK21 PLUS Centre for Creative Biomedical Scientists, Chonnam National University Medical School, 160 Baekseo-ro, Gwangju 61469, Republic of Korea; Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
The development of biologically targeted contrast agents for X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging remains a major challenge. Here, we investigated a green chemistry-based synthesis of lymph node-targeted mannan-capped gold nanoparticles (M-GNPs) as a CT contrast agent. In this study, mannan was used as a reducing and stabilizing agent for gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). M-GNPs were readily internalized by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) through mannose receptors-mediated endocytosis. The M-GNPs, which had a spherical morphology, had an average diameter of 9.18±0.71nm and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption spectra with maximal absorption at 522nm. The M-GNPs displayed a concentration-based X-ray attenuation property with a maximum Hounsfield unit (HU) value of 303.2±10.83. The local administration of M-GNPs led to significantly enhanced X-ray contrast for the imaging of popliteal lymph nodes. These findings demonstrated that M-GNPs can be used as biologically targeted contrast agents for CT imaging.
