Surface‐modified gold nanoshells for enhanced cellular uptake

Abstract

Abstract Gold nanoshells have shown a great potential for use as agents in a wide variety of biomedical applications, and some of which require the delivery of large numbers of gold nanoshells onto or into the cells. Here, we develop a ready method to enhance the cellular uptake of gold nanoshells by modifying with meso‐2,3‐dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). The quantifiable technique of inductively coupled plasma atomic emissions spectroscopy (ICP‐AES) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to investigate the cellular uptake of unmodified and DMSA‐modified gold nanoshells. Three cell lines (RAW 264.7, A549, and BEL‐7402) were involved and the results indicated that the cellular uptake of the DMSA‐modified gold nanoshells was obviously enhanced versus the unmodified gold nanoshells. The reason possibly lies in the nonspecific adsorption of serum protein on the DMSA‐modified gold nanoshells (DMSA‐GNs), which consequently enhanced the cellular uptake. As a continued effort, in vitro experiments with endocytic inhibitors suggested the DMSA‐GNs internalized into cells via receptor‐mediated endocytosis (RME) pathway. This study has provided a valuable insight into the effects of surface modification on cellular uptake of nanoparticles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2011.