Biomedical applications of peptide-gold nanoarchitectonics

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have become a focus of interest in biomedicine due to their unique properties. By attaching peptides to these nanoparticles (NPs), they can be utilized for a wide range of applications. Peptides, which are short chains of amino acids, can be customized for specific molecular interactions, making them ideal for delivering AuNPs to particular cells or tissues. One of the peptide-AuNP-based bio-nano technological approaches involves targeted drug delivery. Including peptides as targeting agents, these NPs can be designed to bind to specific cell receptors or biomarkers. This allows for the direct delivery of therapeutic agents to diseased cells while minimizing unwanted side effects, improving the effectiveness of treatments. Additionally, peptide-functionalized AuNPs (PAuNPs) are crucial for imaging and diagnostics. By functionalizing the NPs with peptides that bind to specific molecular targets, such as cancer biomarkers, these NPs can be used to visualize diseased tissues. This enables the early detection of diseases and helps in determining the severity of conditions for better diagnosis and treatment outcomes. Moreover, PAuNPs have displayed promising potential in photothermal therapy. Once PAuNPs uptake and penetrate target cancer cells effectively, these NPs generate heat when exposed to specific wavelengths of light, efficiently eliminating tumors while preserving healthy surrounding tissues. Therefore, in this paper, we systematically review the potential of PAuNPs in various biomedical applications, including therapy and diagnosis, providing a future perspective.