ABSTRACT
Nanoscale diagnostic and therapeutic agents have been in use since the development of micellar nanocarriers and polymer-drug nanoconjugates in the mid-1950s, liposomes by Bangham and Watkins in the mid-1960s, and the introduction of polymeric nanoparticles by Langer and Folkman in 1976. Since then, nanoscale constructs such as dendrimers, protein nanoconjugates, and inorganic nanoparticles have been developed for the systemic delivery of agents to specific disease sites. This chapter explores the emerging applications of noble metal nanotechnologies in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics carried out by our group. In a more recent, but related, study investigating cellular effects from glycine-aspartic acid/nuclear localization sequence silver nanoparticles, the authors' group observed that apoptotic induction in malignant cells by these particles led to the attraction of neighboring cells and their subsequent engulfment by these cells. Gold nanoparticles are particularly attractive platforms for targeted diagnostics and therapeutics due to their unique optical and electronic properties.
