Gold nanoparticles and magnetic microparticles to detect an indicator of prostate cancer

A new assay developped by US and Austrian researchers uses gold nanoparticles and DNA as amplification agents to detect prostate specific antigen (PSA), a protein associated with prostate cancer. The immunoassay is based on the use of 1) PSA antibody-functionalised gold nanoparticles decorated with DNA strand and 2) magnetic microparticles functionalised with a second PSA antibody. In solution, these two particles both bind to PSA ; the probes can then be magnetically separated thanks to the presence of the magnetic particles. DNA is then cleaved from the gold nanoparticles surface and its quantity (measured owing to a scanometric assay) indirectly indicates the level of PSA initially present in the sample. According to the researchers, this assay is ~300 times more sensitive than other commercial assays (see for example this article for more details).

[[[ Additional links suggested by Nanocolors :

# Gold nanoparticles in biomedical publications since 2000

# Functionalized nanoparticles in patents since 2000

# Gold nanoparticles for cancer detection animation ]]]

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NanoTrust is an Autrian project providing information upon the possible health and environmental risks of nanotechnologies as well as social issues related to nanotech. A series of synthetic reports (the latest one about nanotechnology in cosmetics ; “Nanotechnologie in Kosmetika” in German) and a litterature database (“Literaturdatenbank”) are among the main features of NanoTrust website.