Functional gold nanoparticles for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of thrombus

Thrombus treatment faces great challenges because of the difficulties in the early diagnosis and prevention, and targeted thrombolytic therapy. As a result, there is an urgent need to explore unique strategies to achieve the multiple targets of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention (DTP) by integrating them into one nanosystem. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as a classical type of inorganic nanomaterials with gold, is emergingly found effective in all stages of thrombus therapy due to the superiority of good optical properties, surface plasmon resonance, and biocompatibility. In this review, we focused on the multifunctional roles of AuNPs including visual diagnosis through optical imaging and biomarkers, thrombolytic therapy by photothermal effect and targeting delivery, and prevention of thrombosis in blood vessels and re-embolism of artificial im-plants. Especially, the application prospects of AuNPs and the optimization strategies of their nanocomposites are highlighted and discussed. It is anticipated to provide insight on the development of a more potential integrated platform for precise thrombus therapy.