A Multifunctional Nanoplatform Made of Gold Nanoparticles and Peptides Mimicking the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

In this work, nanobiohybrids of plasmonic gold nanoparticles (AuNP, anti-angiogenic) and a peptide mimicking the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, pro-angiogenic) were assembled scrutinized in terms physicochemical characterization, including optical properties, surface charge, chemical structure morphology bioengineered metal nanoparticles, for their potential application as multifunctional theranostic (i.e., therapy + sensing) nanoplatform (AuNP/VEGF). Specifically, sequence encompassing VEGF cellular receptor domain 73–101 (VEGF73–101) its single point cysteine mutated immobilized onto AuNP by physi- chemi-sorption, respectively. The new hybrid systems characterized means multitechnique approach, dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses, zeta (ZP), spectroscopic (UV-Vis, FT-IR, XPS), spectrometric (TOF-SIMS) microscopic (AFM, SEM) techniques. Proof-of-work experiments human umbilical vein cells (HUVEC) upon treatment with AuNP/VEGF samples, demonstrated no toxicity up to 24 h (MTT assay) well an effective internalization (laser confocal microscopy, LSM).