Pentacle gold–copper alloy nanocrystals: a new system for entering male germ cells in vitro and in vivo

Gold-based nanocrystals have attracted considerable attention for drug delivery and biological applications due to their distinct shapes. However, overcoming biological barriers is a hard and inevitable problem, which restricts medical applications of nanomaterials in vivo. Seeking for an efficient transportation to penetrate biological barriers is a common need. There are three barriers: blood-testis barrier, blood-placenta barrier, and blood-brain barrier. Here, we pay close attention to the blood-testis barrier. We found that the pentacle gold–copper alloy nanocrystals not only could enter GC-2 cells in vitro in a short time, but also could overcome the blood–testis barrier and enter male germ cells in vivo. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the entrance efficiency would become much higher in the development stages. The results also suggested that the pentacle gold–copper alloy nanocrystals could easier enter to germ cells in the pathological condition. This system could be a new method for theranostics in the reproductive system.