Multifunctional Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

Scientific and industrial impact of nanoscience and nanotechnology in analytical chemistry, medicine and pharmacy has been growing. Many different nanosystems have been developed for these purposes. However, the choice of the bioconjugation approach directly affecting the orientation, accessibility, and bioactivity of biomolecules immobilized on these nanoparticles is a very important issue in bionanotechnology [1,2]. There are plenty methods for antibody immobilisation on surfaces. If antibodies acquire an improper orientation, their active sites become inaccessible for antigen, which reduces their biological activity.

Native antibodies and their reduced fragments were immobilized on planar gold, gold nanoparticles and magnetic gold nanoparticles. Antigen capturing efficiency was compared using direct and indirect detection methods and different techniques. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation was applied for the investigation of antibody fragment surface mass density on planar gold and gold nanoparticle modified surfaces, and for the evaluation of specific and non-specific interactions [3]. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based sandwich immunoassay format was used for the enhancement of analytical signal after the immune complex formation on magnetic gold nanoparticles [4].

Prospects of nanoparticle synthesis, bioconjugation, and application for targeted drug delivery will be discussed.

 Acknowledgement

The work was supported by Research Council of Lithuania, Support to research of scientists and other researchers (Global Grant), NanoZim’s, Project Nr. VP1-3.1-ŠMM-07-K-02-042.