Surface modification of gold nanorods using layer-by-layer technique for cellular uptake

Gold nanorods (NRs), rod-shaped gold nanoparticles, were modified with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and polyethylenimine (PEI) using layer-by-layer technique. From absorption spectroscopy and zeta potential measurements, it was obvious that NRs were wrapped with these polymers without aggregation of NRs. Following BSA modification, the surface-modified NRs (BSA-NRs) were well-dispersed without aggregation in biochemical conditions, verified from absorption spectroscopy. Further modification with PEI provided positively charged NRs (PEI-NRs). A transmission electron microscopy image of PEI-NRs revealed that the surface modification did not affect changing the shape of the initial NRs. In addition, the PEI-NRs retained the colloidal stability of BSA-NRs in biochemical conditions. We have evaluated that transfection activity of PEI-NRs with HeLa cells. From results of gene expression experiments, it was obvious that the stabilization of NRs by BSA and further modification with PEI realized transfection using NRs into cultured cells. Moreover, the cellular uptake of NRs enabled cellular imaging using light scattering from the NRs.