TY - JOUR AU - Kumar, Rajiv AU - Korideck, Houari AU - Ngwa, Wilfred AU - Berbeco, Ross I. AU - Makrigiorgos, G. Mike AU - Sridhar, Srinivas PY - 2013 TI - Third generation gold nanoplatform optimized for radiation therapy JF - Translational Cancer Research; Vol 2, No 4 (August 26, 2013): Translational Cancer Research (Nanotechnology in Radiation Research) Y2 - 2013 KW - N2 - We report the design and fabrication of third generation ultrasmall PEGylated gold nanoparticles based platform (AuRad TM ) optimized for applications in radiation therapy. The AuRad TM nanoplatform has the following key features: (I) surface coating of hetero-bifunctional-PEG with amine, carboxyl, methoxy functional groups, which make this a versatile nanoplatform to conjugate various moieties like fluorophores, peptides, drugs, radiolabels; (II) size that is optimized for longer circulation, higher tumor uptake and modulated clearance; (III) high radiation enhancement. We have synthesized ultrasmall 2-3 nm gold nanoparticles, followed by attachment of hetero-bifunctional PEG and further conjugation of fluorophore AlexaFlour 647 for optical imaging, with a stability of more than 6 months. Confocal bioimaging with HeLa cells showed robust uptake of biocompatible nanoparticles in cells. Irradiation experiments X-rays showed greater than 2.8-fold cell kill enhancement as demonstrated by clonogenic survival assays. The results indicate that AuRad nanoplatform can act as potential theranostic agent in radiation therapy. UR - https://tcr.amegroups.org/article/view/1342