One-Step Synthesis of Peptide–Gold Nanoclusters with Tunable Fluorescence and Enhanced Gene Delivery Efficiency

In this study, peptide-gold nanoclusters with tunable fluorescence were prepared by a simple "one-pot" method, which were used for gene localization and delivery in vivo to achieve efficient intracellular colocalization, uptake, and transfection. The efficiency of pDNA transfection was up to 70.6%, and there was no obvious cytotoxicity. This study proves that the simple-composition and bio-friendly peptide-gold nanoclusters are promising gene delivery carriers and can provide a powerful theoretical and experimental basis for the application of peptide-metal nanocomplexes in gene delivery and other biomedicine fields.