Issue 7, 2012

Intrinsic therapeutic applications of noble metal nanoparticles: past, present and future

Abstract

Biomedical nanotechnology is an evolving field having enormous potential to positively impact the health care system. Important biomedical applications of nanotechnology that may have potential clinical applications include targeted drug delivery, detection/diagnosis and imaging. Basic understanding of how nanomaterials, the building blocks of nanotechnology, interact with the cells and their biological consequences are beginning to evolve. Noble metal nanoparticles such as gold, silver and platinum are particularly interesting due to their size and shape dependent unique optoelectronic properties. These noble metal nanoparticles, particularly of gold, have elicited a lot of interest for important biomedical applications because of their ease of synthesis, characterization and surface functionalization. Furthermore, recent investigations are demonstrating another promising application of these nanomaterials as self-therapeutics. To realize the potential promise of these unique inorganic nanomaterials for future clinical translation, it is of utmost importance to understand a few critical parameters; (i) how these nanomaterials interact with the cells at the molecular level; (ii) how their biodistribution and pharmacokinetics influenced by their surface and routes of administration; (iii) mechanism of their detoxification and clearance and (iv) their therapeutic efficacy in appropriate disease model. Thus in this critical review, we will discuss the various clinical applications of gold, silver and platinum nanoparticles with relevance to above parameters. We will also mention various routes of synthesis of these noble metal nanoparticles. However, before we discuss present research, we will also look into the past. We need to understand the discoveries made before us in order to further our knowledge and technological development (318 references).

Graphical abstract: Intrinsic therapeutic applications of noble metal nanoparticles: past, present and future

  • This article is part of the themed collection: Nanomedicine

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
23 Dec 2011
First published
05 Mar 2012

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012,41, 2943-2970

Intrinsic therapeutic applications of noble metal nanoparticles: past, present and future

R. R. Arvizo, S. Bhattacharyya, R. A. Kudgus, K. Giri, R. Bhattacharya and P. Mukherjee, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 2943 DOI: 10.1039/C2CS15355F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements