Study of Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles with Anti-gp63 IgG Antibody for the Detection of Glycoprotein gp63 in Membrane Surface of Leishmania Genus Parasites

In this work we present the preparation and functionalization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the detection of presence of gp63 glycoprotein in the surface of Leishmania genus parasites. AuNPs were prepared by induced laser ablation in a clean and biologically suitable media. The nanoparticles were functionalized with anti-gp63 lgG antibody in order to study the interaction with the glycoprotein component gp63 (63 kDa) present on the membrane surface of Leishmania genus parasites. The functionalized AuNPs showed potential as a spectrometric indicator of the parasite existence, both by the detection of the presence of the gp63 in solution and through the specific interaction with the parasites in vitro. The specificity of the study opens a new line of research on the use of modified nanoparticles in the development of a fast and easy assay for Leishmaniosis diagnostics.