Functionalized gold nanoparticles manifested as potent carriers for nucleolar targeting

WOS: 000390560900001PubMed ID: 27924783It is generally known that gold nanoparticles are localised in the cytoplasm and, if synthesised in small sizes or functionalized with specific proteins, they enter the cell nucleus. However, there is no report emphasising the importance of surface functionalization in their accumulation in the nucleolus. Here, for the first time in the. literature, it is proposed that functionalization of gold nanoparticles with a thin layer of polyethyleneimine (PEI) spearheads them to the nucleolus of hard-to-transfect post-mitotic dorsal root ganglion neurones in a size-independent manner. As a potential for theranostic applications, it was found that functionalization with a. thin layer of PEI affected the emission signal intensity of gold nanoparticles so that the. cellular biodistribution of nanoparticles was visualised. clearly under both confocal and two-photon microscopes.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) [2215, 2211-C]The authors would like to thank Dr Steve Perrault for his valuable comments and consults for the study. This study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) 2215 and 2211-C scholarship programs