Lenalidomide (LENA) Hybrid Gold Complex Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Physicochemical Evaluation, and Perspectives in Nanomedicine

[Image: see text] This paper proposes a fast methodology to synthesize hybrid lenalidomide gold nanoparticles. Gold (HAuCl(4)) is chelated with an antiangiogenic compound (lenalidomide (LENA)) and diacid poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as capping agent and reagent. The suggested synthesis is rapid and results in gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with enhanced drug solubility. The binding between LENA, PEG, and Au(III) ions forms hybrid nanovectors named LENA IN PEG-AuNPs, which were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques (Raman and UV–vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and compared with LENA ON PEG-AuNPs, in which the drug was grafted onto gold surface by carbodiimide chemistry (1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide, EDC/NHS). The effective drug delivery under pH conditions was also reached, combined with doxorubicin (DOX) to improve the synergic chemotherapy and stability under experimental conditions. For biomedical purposes, hybrid gold nanocarriers were conjugated with folic acid (FA), which is specifically overexpressed in cancer cells. This paper will be very important in the domain of therapeutic gold complex, paving the way for reaching progress of novel drug carrier synthesis in nanomedicine.