Colorimetric and plasmonic detection of lectins using core-shell gold glyconanoparticles prepared by copper-free click chemistry

This study describes the simple preparation of core-shell glycosyl gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using stepwise, copper-free click chemistry-promoted self-assembly. The as-formed glyco-AuNPs can be used for the selective detection of sugar-lectin interactions, which are vital to many important physiological and pathological processes. The approach uses AuNPs as bioprobes since they produce, sensitively, changes in both color visible to the naked eye and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), on aggregation. Strain-promoted click reaction of an azido galactoside with a lipid cyclooctyne affords a galactolipid that can be embedded into polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated AuNP via self-assembly. Subsequently, using naked-eye and plasmon resonance scattering spectroscopy, we were able to observe the colorimetric and plasmonic variations of the glyco-AuNPs, respectively, in the presence of a selective lectin over other proteins.