Dendritic gold nanoparticles and methods of synthesis
View Patent ↗A method of producing dendritic gold nanoparticles by combining a gold precursor solution, a reducing agent, and a bifunctional peptide having an amine-rich amino acid sequence into a buffered aqueous solution in a single container, and agitating the mixture causing the formation of the dendritic gold nanoparticles having a surface with a positive charge and a second end portion of the bifunctional peptide exposed on the surface of the dendritic gold nanoparticles. The dendritic gold nanoparticles may be used to deliver therapeutic, diagnostic, and/or immunogenic amino acid sequences as portions of the bifunctional peptide.
1. A method of producing dendritic gold nanoparticles, comprising:
providing a gold precursor solution, a reducing agent, and a bifunctional peptide, wherein the bifunctional peptide comprises a first end portion comprising an amine-rich amino acid sequence, and a second end portion;
combining, in a single container, the gold precursor solution, reducing agent, and bifunctional peptide in a buffered aqueous solution at a pH in a range of 6-9 to form a mixture; and
agitating the mixture causing the formation of dendritic gold nanoparticles having a surface with a positive charge and having the second end portion of the bifunctional peptide exposed on the surface of the dendritic gold nanoparticles.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first end portion of the bifunctional peptide comprises 2 to 16 positively-charged amino acids.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the 2 to 16 positively-charged amino acids are selected from the group consisting of arginine (R), lysine (K), and histidine (H).
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first end portion of the bifunctional peptide comprises the amino acid sequence X 1 -X 2 -X 3 -X 4 -X 5 -X 6 -X 7 -X 8 (SEQ ID NO:53), wherein each of X 1 -X 8 is independently selected from R, K, and H in any arrangement.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first end portion and the second end portion of the bifunctional peptide are directly linked via a peptide bond.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first end portion and the second end portion of the bifunctional peptide are linked together via an intervening linker sequence.
7. The method of claim 1 , comprising coating the dendritic gold nanoparticles with a negatively-charged oligodeoxynucleotide, wherein the oligodeoxynucleotide is bound electrostatically to the dendritic gold nanoparticles.