Peptide-Functionalized Gold Nanorods as a Model to Reach the Cell Nucleus: Synthesis and Structural Characterizations in View of Theragnostic Applications
Gold nanoparticles are proving to be highly successful for delivering drugs to specific targets, exploiting carefully designed functionalizations. This work creates and optimizes the synthesis of gold nanorods (AuNRs), subsequently functionalized with a peptide, TAT, appropriately modified to allow attachment to the rods and guide their entry into the cell nucleus and nuclear growth. Various chemical and physical characterizations were performed to verify and optimize the AuNRs-TAT system. DLS, Z-potential, UV-vis, and FT-IR spectroscopies confirmed the nanosize, monodispersity, colloidal stability, and successful functionalization. Furthermore, structural characterizations conducted using synchrotron radiation were crucial for understanding the actual interaction between the gold surface and the modified TAT peptide. The study highlighted how this material is indeed a good drug delivery system, stable over time, and promising for reaching the cell nucleus.
Authors
- C. Battocchio
- Annj Zamuner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8113-0346)
- Valentina Dini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4125-0084)
- A. Attili (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2765-4840)
- Teresa Scotognella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2388-2961)
- Monica Dettin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6823-3375)
- Iole Venditti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9306-573X)
- Barbara De Berardis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7857-9620)
- Federica Bertelà (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1763-1734)
- Simone Amatori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3310-9796)
- Maria Grazia Ammendolia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4121-3005)
- Ludovica Binelli
- Carlo Mancini-Terraciano
- Maria Lucia Calcagni
- Alessandra Palma
- Sveva Grande
- Diego Lipani
- Marco Ranaldi
- Andrea Fabbri
- Valentin-Adrian Maraloiu
- Luca Tortora
- Giovanna Iucci
- Alessandro Giordano
Institutions
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (IT)
- Roma Tre University (IT)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (IT)
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità (IT)
- AREA Science Park (IT)
- Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic (IT)
- National Institute of Materials Physics (RO)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma Tre (IT)
- Center for Innovative Public Health Research (US)
- DNA Medicine Institute (United States) (US)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry B
- Published
- 2026-03-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.5c07563
- Primary Topic
- Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00