Gold nanoparticles conjugated with fluorophore-labeled DNA: Overview of sensing and imaging applications

Abstract

It has been over a decade now since nanoparticles started being covalently linked to biological entities to obtain multifunctional nanobioconjugates with improved and controlled properties. For instance, the interfacing of plasmonic nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), with fluorophore-labeled nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, led to the development of a particular class of powerful nanomaterials for biomedical applications. In this review, we present the advances made in the exploitation of the particular type of bioconjugates based on fluorophore-labeled DNA samples conjugated to AuNPs for fluorescence-based sensing and imaging applications. First, we emphasize their applications in DNA/RNA sensing and detection of biological molecules, processes and hazardous compounds, summarizing and comparing the performances of the presented sensing platforms. Then, we highlight the potential of this particular type of nanomaterials for image-guide intracellular sensing and analysis, showing their ability to track cellular dynamics.