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Synthesis and multidisciplinary characterization of polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated nanogold with improved stability toward aggregation

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Abstract

An interesting nanodrug delivery system is polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated nanogold. For better understanding of the binding of polycations or the counter-indicative deposition of polyanions on the citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles, we used a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to characterize the orientation of the polyions towards the gold surface. It was found that poly-allylamine replaces citrate molecules while the polyanion, poly-styrene sulfonate, intercalates in the citrate shell. One of the major obstacles for polyelectrolyte-coated nanogold is its tendency to agglomerate in the presence of high ion concentration as present, e.g., in blood. A novel encapsulation protocol for polyelectrolyte multilayer coating of gold nanoparticles was developed to successfully overcome this drawback. Moreover, electrostatic functionalization of the polyelectrolyte shell with a model target molecule for cancer, folic acid, induced a significant increase in the particle uptake in folate-receptor over-expressing breast cancer cell lines, VP 229 and MDA MB 231, compared to non-targeted particles or cells (non-activated macrophages) not expressing the folate receptor.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Italian grant CIPE. SM was financially supported by a SISSA PhD fellowship. AB acknowledges support from Fondazione CRTrieste. VS acknowledges partial support from the Scientific Direction of IRCSS Burlo Garofolo. The authors thank Dr. F. Petrera for the technical help with the cell culture, Dr. D. Latawiec for the manuscript revision, and A. Bruns and M. Kaszuba from Malvern for their support with the DLS. Special thanks to Prof. G. Scoles for his valuable suggestions and discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SISSA—International School for Advanced Studies, via Bonomea 265, 34136, Trieste, Italy

    Subhra Mandal

  2. Centre of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials, University of Trieste, via Valerio 2, 34127, Trieste, Italy

    Alois Bonifacio & Valter Sergo

  3. NanoBioMed lab @ LANADA, CBM S.c.r.l—Cluster in Biomedicine, Area Science Park, Basovizza - SS 14, Km 163.5, 34149, Trieste, Italy

    Francesco Zanuttin & Silke Krol

  4. European Centre for Nanomedicine, Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Neurologico “Carlo Besta”, IFOM-IEO-campus, via Adamello 16, 20139, Milan, Italy

    Silke Krol

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  1. Subhra Mandal
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Correspondence to Silke Krol.

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Mandal, S., Bonifacio, A., Zanuttin, F. et al. Synthesis and multidisciplinary characterization of polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated nanogold with improved stability toward aggregation. Colloid Polym Sci 289, 269–280 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-010-2343-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-010-2343-2

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