Rational design of gold nanocarrier for the delivery of JAG-1 peptide

BACKGROUND: Unique properties exhibited by nanoparticles makes them great candidates for applications in physics, chemistry, biology, material science and medicine. The biological applications of water-soluble gold nanoparticles range from contrast agents, delivery vehicles to therapeutics. Notch signaling is a complex network that orchestrates cell fate decisions, which involves proliferation, migration, differentiation and cell death in organisms ranging from insects to humans. Studies have showed that a correct orientation of the Jag-1 signalling protein on the substrates proves to be of great importance when promoting Jagged-1 Notch interactions, also the availability of the ligands, super cedes the importance of their concentration. RESULTS: The aim of the present study was to synthetize a Jag-1 functionalized nanocarrier, which would promote an efficient interaction between the Jag-1 peptide and the Notch receptor. To this end, two routes for gold nanoparticle-peptide assembly were investigated, and the synthetized bio-nanostructures were characterized and compared by means of UV–Vis, FT-IR, DLS and AFM techniques. CONCLUSIONS: We have obtained a stable, monodisperse, hetero-functionalized GNP-PEG-JAG-1 bio-nanostructure for Notch pathway activation applications. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12951-015-0100-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.