Study of the stability of functionalized gold nanoparticles for the colorimetric detection of dipeptidyl peptidase IV

In this report, we investigated three stabilization strategies of gold nanoparticles and their practical application for the visual detection of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV). Citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are generally unstable in high-ionic-strength samples. Au NPs are easily tagged with various proteins and biomolecules rich in amino acids, leading to important biomedical applications including targeted drug delivery, cellular imaging, and biosensing. The investigated assays were based on different modes of stabilization, such as the incorporation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) groups, stabilizer peptide, and bifunctionalization. Although all approaches provided highly stable Au NP platforms demonstrated by zeta potential measurements and resistance to aggregation in a high-ionic-strength saline solution, we found that the Au NPs modified with a separate stabilizer ligand provided the highest stability and was the only platform that demonstrated sensitivity to the addition of DPP-IV, whilst PEGylated and peptide-stabilized Au NPs showed no significant response.