| Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) hold a great promise for biomedical applications. The inert inorganic core provides a scaffold to hold organic ligands and their payloads, while the diversity of monolayers provide a means to tailor AuNP surface properties for particular purposes. Based on our synthethic approach to ligand fabrication, our group has been able to control the chemical properties of AuNPs at the nanoscale level. These properties have made AuNPs an excellent scaffold for delivery applications. In this dissertation, it has been demonstrated how the properties of monolayers play a crucial role in achieving a desired biological goal. In each case, the monolayer of AuNPs has been tailored using organic synthesis as a strategy to afford stable and biocompatible biological tools. These engineered AuNPs demonstrate numerous biomedical applications, including a controlled release of payload, cellular uptake, gene regulations, cytosolic delivery, and cytotoxicity. |
