Cellular Uptake of Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

The biomedical industry is faced with the constant challenge of creating treatments to help patients that are cost-effective and easy to synthesize and administer. Recent advances in nanotechnology have sparked research in the use of nano-scale particles for medical applications. Gold nanoparticles have become a popular choice of vector in drug delivery research, however, the mechanism of cellular uptake of these particles is still unknown. By attaching fluorescent functional groups to gold nanoparticles, and observing how these nanoparticles transport through lipid bilayers, which mimic cell membranes, I have gained a better understanding of the cellular transport properties