Peptide protected gold clusters: chemical synthesis and biomedical applications

Bridging the gap between atoms and nanoparticles, noble metal clusters with atomic precision continue to attract considerable attention due to their important applications in catalysis, energy transformation, biosensing and biomedicine. Greatly different to common chemical synthesis, a one-step biomimetic synthesis of peptide-conjugated metal clusters has been developed to meet the demand of emerging bioapplications. Under mild conditions, multifunctional peptides containing metal capturing, reactive and targeting groups are rationally designed and elaborately synthesized to fabricate atomically precise peptide protected metal clusters. Among them, peptide-protected Au Cs (peptide-Au Cs) possess a great deal of exceptional advantages such as nanometer dimensions, high photostability, good biocompatibility, accurate chemical formula and specific protein targeting capacity. In this review article, we focus on the recent advances in potential theranostic fields by introducing the rising progress of peptide-Au Cs for biological imaging, biological analysis and therapeutic applications. The interactions between Au Cs and biological systems as well as potential mechanisms are also our concerned theme. We expect that the rapidly growing interest in Au Cs-based theranostic applications will attract broader concerns across various disciplines.