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From synthesis to applications of biomolecule-protected luminescent gold nanoclusters

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Abstract

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are a class of novel luminescent nanomaterials that exhibit unique properties of ultra-small size, featuring strong anti-photo-bleaching ability, substantial Stokes shift, good biocompatibility, and low toxicity. Various biomolecules have been developed as templates or ligands to protect AuNCs with enhanced stability and luminescent properties for biomedical applications. In this review, the synthesis of AuNCs based on biomolecules including amino acids, peptides, proteins and DNA are summarized. Owing to the advantages of biomolecule-protected AuNCs, they have been employed extensively for diverse applications. The biological applications, particularly in bioimaging, biosensing, disease therapy and biocatalysis have been described in detail herein. Finally, current challenges and future potential prospects of bio-templated AuNCs in biological research are briefly discussed.

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Fig. 1
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Copyright 2009, American Chemical Society

Fig. 6

Copyright 2017, Wiley–VCH

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Copyright 2012, IOP Publishing Ltd

Fig. 8

Copyright 2019, WILEY‐VCH. (B) Specific bone targeting and high resolution NIR-II fluorescence imaging of the whole mouse body. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [107]. Copyright 2020, Wiley‐VCH

Fig. 9

Copyright 2022, Elsevier. (B) Formation of dual-ligand-coated AuNCs and the NIR-II fluorescence of AuNCs used in vivo imaging. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [117]. Copyright 2022, Pang. et al. Published by American Chemical Society

Fig. 10

Copyright 2010, Royal Society of Chemistry. (B) Detection of Hg2+ using BSA-AuNCs with combination of GO hybrid membrane. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [120]. Copyright 2018, Elsevier. (C) Detection of GSH and Cu2+ with insulin-capped AuNCs. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [122]. Copyright 2023, American Chemical Society. (D) Synthesis of L-proline-stabilized fluorescent AuNCs and the application for Fe3+ detection. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [49]. Copyright 2013, Elsevier

Fig. 11

Copyright 2018, American Chemical Society. (B) Schematic illustration of synthesis of NIR-II BSA-AuNCs combining with PDT against breast cancer and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [151]. Copyright 2022, Qing Dan et al. Published by MDPI

Fig. 12

Copyright 2019, American Chemical Society. (B) Schematic illustration of the cooperation of DNase-AuNCs with PTT and PDT to damage bacteria. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [158]. Copyright 2020, American Chemical Society. (C) Schematic illustration of the synthesis of cationic AuAgNCs@BSA and their applications in bioimaging and antibacterial agents. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [161]. Copyright 2022, Tsinghua University Press. (D) Schematic illustration of QA-AuNCs targeting multidrug-resistant bacteria. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [32]. Copyright 2018, Wiley–VCH

Fig. 13

Copyright 2021, Elsevier B.V. (B) Schematic illustration of the synthesis of LC-AuNCs and their application in diabetic wound healing. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [33]. Copyright 2024, Elsevier B.V

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Acknowledgements

The present study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 22274100 and 2223000319).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Nano-Biosensing Technology, Research Center for Biosensor and Nanotheranostic, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Jiafeng Qiu, Faisal Ahmad, Jianxin Ma, Yanping Sun, Ying Liu, Yelan Xiao, Long Xu, Tong Shu & Xueji Zhang

  2. Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Jiafeng Qiu, Faisal Ahmad, Jianxin Ma, Yanping Sun, Ying Liu, Yelan Xiao, Long Xu, Tong Shu & Xueji Zhang

  3. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Shenzhen University General Hospital, Shenzhen, China

    Long Xu

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  1. Jiafeng Qiu
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Contributions

Conceptualization, J.Q. and T.S.; methodology, J.M. and L.X.; software, Y.S. and Y.L.; validation, Y.L., Y.X. and L.X.; formal analysis, F.A.; investigation, J.Q. and Y.X.; resources, J.Q.; writing-original draft preparation, J.Q. and Y.X.; writing-review and editing, F.A., Y.X. and T.S.; supervision, T.S. and X.Z.; project administration, T.S; funding acquisition, T.S. and X.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yelan Xiao or Tong Shu.

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Published in the topical collection Luminescent Nanomaterials for Biosensing and Bioimaging with guest editors Li Shang, Chih-Ching Huang, and Xavier Le Guével.

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Qiu, J., Ahmad, F., Ma, J. et al. From synthesis to applications of biomolecule-protected luminescent gold nanoclusters. Anal Bioanal Chem (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05303-y

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