In situ decrypting plasmonic nanoparticle size-controlled phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor in living cells.

Recently, interaction between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and EGFR-targeted nanoprobes is a hot topic. Here, we use dark field microscope (DFM) observe different aggregations of EGFR-targeted nanoprobes in diverticulum. Different aggregation states are related to phosphorylation of EGFR. EGFR phosphorylation can be adjusted by gold nanoparticles (GNPs) size.