Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Receptor- and Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-Specific Ultrasmall Gold Nanoparticles for Characterization and Diagnosis of Prostate Carcinoma via Fluorescence Imaging.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have widely been used for 70 years in cancer treatment, but only in the last 15 years has the focus been on specific AuNPs with homogeneous size and shape for various areas in science. They constitute a perfect platform for multifunctionalization and therefore enable the enhancement of target affinity. Here we report on the development of tumor specific AuNPs as diagnostic tools intended for the detection of prostate cancer via fluorescence imaging and positron emission tomography (PET). The AuNPs were further evaluated in vitro and in vivo and exhibited favorable diagnostic properties concerning tumor cell uptake, biodistribution, clearance, and tumor retention.