Application of Gold in Biomedicine: Past, Present and Future

Gold has been used in medicine for thousands of years. Nowadays, gold compounds contribute to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis; gold alloys are used in implants in various fields of medicine; and colloid gold is used in immunogold electron microscopy. Advances in nanotechnology have resulted in novel gold nanoparticles, which possess distinct physical properties such as fluorescence. We have developed fluorescent gold nanoclusters (FANCs) that contain gold nanoparticles with a core dimension < 2 nm. Initial studies have shown that FANCs are a highly biocompatible marker with a fluorescence half-life of 9 days, and are suitable for in vitro and in vivo tracking of endothelial and endothelial progenitor cells. FANCs may also have novel chemical properties involved in regulation of endothelial cell function. This minireview discusses the future directions of biomedical research for FANCs