Applications of Gold Nanoparticles in Nanomedicine: Recent Advances in Vaccines †

Carabineiro, Sónia Alexandra Correia

Gold has been used in several other vaccines. Some examples are reported below. Gold nanoparticles were conjugated to a synthetic peptide of the VP1 capsid protein of the foot-and-mouth disease virus, which causes an acute, highly contagious infection of domestic and wild animals, transmittable to humans, for which the existing vaccines are not much effective [112] . The resulting conjugate (with or without the use of complete Freund's adjuvant) was compared to a commercial vaccine and to the native peptide, in immunization of guinea pigs. The titer and sensitivity of the antibodies were maximal for the combination comprising the nanoparticle-peptide conjugate and complete Freund's adjuvant. Gold nanoparticles were evaluated as vaccine carriers for enhancing the antibody response against a resembling foot-and-mouth disease virus peptide [62] . Particles with 8-17 nm in diameter stimulated the highest antibody levels and accumulated at the highest numbers in the spleen of mice.