A multifunctional drug delivery cargo: Folate-driven gold nanoparticle-vitamin B complex for next-generation drug delivery

The gold nanoparticles have manifold applications as drug delivery agents. The larger surface-to-volume ratio of the gold nanoparticles is the primary reason for their high drug-loading efficiency. Currently, their application is transitioning into nuclear medicines and as a theranostic assay of biological tissues. Bioactive gold nanoparticles have the potential to bind with growth factors such as Vitamins to regulate the cellular functions of different organs of the human body. The present study focuses on the formation of folate-functionalized gold nanoparticles conjugated Vitamin B complex. AuNPs were fabricated using thiol-linkage to conjugate folic acid and Vitamin B complex using heterobifunctional PEG derivative and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD analysis and Dynamic light scattering DLS. Thiol-linked folate functionalized AuNP-Vitamin B complex can act as a selective targeting molecule and exert a synergistic therapeutic effect as a multifunctional drug delivery system in nanomedicines.