Abstract
Metal nanoclusters (NCs), a new type of nanomaterial with unique physicochemical properties, show great potential in many biomedical applications. Understanding their behavior in the complex biological environment is critical not only for designing highly efficient NC-based nanomedicines but also for elucidating the biological impact (e.g., toxicity) of these emerging nanomaterials. In this review, we give an overview of recent progress in exploring interactions of metal NCs with biological systems, including protein adsorption onto NCs, NC interactions with cells, and also the in vivo behavior of NCs. We also discuss the biological responses to the interactions, key parameters defining the interactions, and current challenges in the exploration of NCs in the complex biological environment.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONMetal nanoclusters (NCs), composed of several to a few hundred metal atoms, have received enormous attention over the past decade.[1,2] With attractive physicochemical features including distinct molecular-like photoluminescence, high stability, excellent biocompatibility, and ultrasmall size, metal NCs have emerged as a new type of luminescent nanomaterial with promising applications in many areas including the biological and environmental sciences.[3,4,5] In particular, there is an increasing interest in exploring NC applications in the biomedical field.[6,7,8,9] For example, Irudayaraj and coworkers reported the specific targeting of ErbB2 over-expressing breast cancer cells and tumor tissues by using biofunctionalized gold nanoclusters (AuNCs).[10] They observed that the therapeutic efficacy of Herceptin was markedly enhanced upon conjugation with AuNCs. Recently, metal NC-based nanocomposites have been successfully applied in gene therapy, as demonstrated by a 2–3 times higher transfection efficiency of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-templated AuNCs than PEI only.[11] More recently, Tao et al.[12] reported the use of ovalbumin-CpG oligodeoxynucleotide conjugates-templated AuNCs as smart self-vaccines for enhanced immune response
PROTEIN CORONA FORMATION ON METAL NC SURFACES. It has been well recognized by the community that a protein adsorption layer (“corona”) forms whenever nanoparticles enter a biological fluid, which critically defines the biological identity of the nanoparticles.[17,18]
Considerable amounts of effort have been devoted to unveiling the complicated interactions between engineered nanomaterials and biological systems
Summary
Metal nanoclusters (NCs), composed of several to a few hundred metal atoms, have received enormous attention over the past decade.[1,2] With attractive physicochemical features including distinct molecular-like photoluminescence, high stability, excellent biocompatibility, and ultrasmall size, metal NCs have emerged as a new type of luminescent nanomaterial with promising applications in many areas including the biological and environmental sciences.[3,4,5] In particular, there is an increasing interest in exploring NC applications in the biomedical field.[6,7,8,9] For example, Irudayaraj and coworkers reported the specific targeting of ErbB2 over-expressing breast cancer cells and tumor tissues by using biofunctionalized gold nanoclusters (AuNCs).[10] They observed that the therapeutic efficacy of Herceptin was markedly enhanced upon conjugation with AuNCs. Recently, metal NC-based nanocomposites have been successfully applied in gene therapy, as demonstrated by a 2–3 times higher transfection efficiency of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-templated AuNCs than PEI only.[11] More recently, Tao et al.[12] reported the use of ovalbumin-CpG oligodeoxynucleotide conjugates-templated AuNCs as smart self-vaccines for enhanced immune response. Among the different types of metal NCs, we mainly focus on the biological behavior of AuNCs, which are the most widely investigated NCs owing to their good stability and biocompatibility
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