Advances in immunological and theranostic approaches of gold nanoparticles-A review

The emergence of nanobiotechnology provides an unprecedented opportunity to improve disease diagnosis and treatment efficacy. Among the various metal-based nano-pharmaceuticals, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with functionalized surfaces have gained significant attention in biomedical application, because of their unique optical, electrical, magnetic and catalytical properties. The essential features of AuNPs such as electronic, optical, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), physicochemical, and immunomodulatory effects, showcase its significance and broad interventions in different fields of biomedicine including sensing, targeted drug-delivery system (TDDS), bio-imaging, immunotherapy, vaccines, cancers & infectious diseases. Further, low toxicity, biocompatibility, workable tunability and stability make AuNPs a promising candidate for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This article attempts to review the immunological and diagnostic applications of AuNPs on the level of its demands and strength. The article has two major sections; the first section of the review deals with the important properties of AuNPs, which influence their biomedical potentials and the next section, covers the current bio-medical applications of AuNPs with particular emphasis in therapeutic, diagnostic and immunotherapy aspects.