Facile fabrication of gold particles decorated silk-on-silk nanocapsules

Both protein capsules and gold nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention in drug delivery systems. In this study, silk fibroin nanocapsules were fabricated by silk-on-silk layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly onto poly[lactic-co-(glycolic acid)] (PLGA) sacrificial templates followed by core removal. Subsequently, hybrid nanocapsules were fabricated by physical adsorption of DNA modified gold nanospheres and nanorods. These hybrid LbL-nanocapsules have potential applications for targeted drug delivery or combination therapy. •Silk fibroin nanocapsules were fabricated by silk-on-silk layer-by-layer assembly followed by removal of PLGA templates.•The hybrid nanocapsules were fabricated by physical adsorption of DNA modified gold nanospheres and nanorods.•Gold decorated silk-based hybrid vehicles have potential applications for targeted drug delivery or combination therapy.