Growth regulation of luminescent gold nanoparticles directed from amphiphilic block copolymers: highly-controlled nanoassemblies toward tailored in-vivo transport

The understanding of amphiphilic block copolymers (ABC) in encapsulation and transport of inorganic nanomedicines is highly desired. Still, it remains limited due to the challenges in the fabrication of nanoassemblies (NAs) with highly-controlled shape and loading of nanoparticles. Herein, through growth regulation of luminescent gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by different reductants with ABC pluronic F127 as a template, a straightforward strategy is reported for in-situ fabrication of three well-controlled gold NAs (AuNAs) that display tunable shapes from spherical to elongated nanostructures and controllable surface chemistry and loading of AuNPs with distinct emissions but identical individual AuNP size. The three AuNAs exhibit tailored in-vivo transport behaviours: those with spherical shape and more hydrophilic surface show longer blood retention with higher tumor-targeting efficiency (∼25.3% injection dose/g) and excellent long-term near-infrared tumor imaging even after 96 h post-injection. These findings provide a useful guidance in designing specific nanostructures for future nanomedicine transport.