Numerous works are based on the design, the elaboration and the study of the optical properties of gold nanoprobes for
potential applications in biotechnologies (bioimaging, biosensing). Among all the possible shapes, it appears that sharp
gold nanostructures exhibit interesting features due to the strong filed generated at their tips ends, making them very
sensitive to the surrounding medium. Here we describe a complete study of PEGylated gold nanoparticles : nanostars and
bipyramids as potential agents for bioimaging. The nanoprobes are first prepared in high yield before functionalization
with a biocompatible polymer. Then, the PEGylated gold nanoparticles are incubated with melanoma B16-F10 cells and
observed using Dark-field microscopy. Results show that the biocompatible gold nanoparticles are easily internalized and
most of them localized within the cells.
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