Drug Delivery: Multiphoton Molecular Photorelease in Click‐Chemistry‐Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles (Small 23/2011)

The image shows an illustration of the modular nanosystem developed for the controlled photorelease of molecular payloads, induced by yellow-green laserlight. Peptide-coated 30-nm gold nanospheres are covalently conjugated to molecular payloads by standard click chemistry, via a 1,2,3-triazole-ring linker. The photorelease of payloads is triggered in living cells by low-power continuous-wave 561-nm laser light within a standard confocal microscope setup. In agreement with theoretical calculations, the process follows a nonlinear effect promoted by thestimulation of the localized surface plasmon resonance. The ability to perform controlled photocleavage of UV-labile molecules with visible or NIR radiation opens up new, exciting possibilities for nanomedicine applications.