Recent developments in computational and experimental studies of physicochemical properties of Au and Ag nanostructures on cellular uptake and nanostructure toxicity

• Published in: Biochimica et biophysica acta. General subjects Vol. 1866; no. 8; p. 130170
• Main Authors: Ngake, T., Nqayi, S., Gulumian, M., Cronjé, S., Harris, R.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.08.2022
• Subjects: Cellular uptake; Coordination chemistry; coordination compounds; drugs; energy; gold; Gold (Au) nanostructures; Physicochemical properties; Silver (Ag); Surface chemistry; Toxicity; Cellular uptake; Gold (Au) nanostructures; Toxicity; Surface chemistry; Silver (Ag); Physicochemical properties; Coordination chemistry
• ISSN: 0304-4165; 1872-8006; 1872-8006
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2022.130170

Recent developments in studies of the uptake and toxicity of both gold (Au) and silver (Ag) nanostructures (NS) in drug delivery systems have shown that physicochemical properties play an important role. Physicochemical properties of engineered NS such as size, shape, coordination chemistry, surface charge, and surface chemistry generally manifest in reactivity, surface energetics and electronic properties of the nanomaterials. This review discusses the computational and experimental studies conducted to study the effects of physicochemical properties on cellular uptake and nanostructure toxicity. The studies show that properties like coordination chemistry have often been overlooked when studying the high surface energy of NS. •Developments in computational/experimental studies on physicochemical properties of Au and Ag nanostructures are reported.•The following topics are discussed: size, shape, surface chemistry, surface charge, coordination chemistry and reactivity.•We report on studies done on the reactivity of NPs using molecular dynamics (MD) and density functional theory (DFT).