Rapid Preparation of Au–Se–Peptide Nanoprobe Based on a Freezing Method for Bioimaging

Fluorescent nanoprobes based on peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been widely used in bioassays. The Au–Se bond is considered as a better candidate than the Au–S bond to link the peptides and AuNPs due to the stronger ability against interference of intracellular thiol. However, the current synthetic methods for preparing peptide/AuNPs nanoprobes are always complex and time-consuming. Developing a convenient and rapid method to synthesize the Au–Se bond based nanoprobes is expected to further facilitate their application in fundamental research. Herein, we present a facile and rapid approach to prepare the Au–Se-peptide nanoprobes through a direct freezing process, which is easy-to-operate, time-saving, and surfactant-free. Compared with the traditional method, the amount of peptide loaded on AuNPs by freezing method is also promoted with 20–30%. Furthermore, the obtained nanoprobe was successfully applied to identify autophagy and apoptosis in chemotherapeutic drug treated cancer cells.