Simultaneous regulation of optical properties and cellular behaviors of gold nanoclusters by pre-engineering the biotemplates

Herein, we reported a new strategy to simultaneously regulate both the physicochemical properties and biological behaviors of fabricated nanomaterials. Upon precisely pre-tailoring the number of charged groups of bovine serum albumin (BSA), the resultant BSA-templated gold nanoclusters (BSA-AuNCs) exhibit remarkably different fluorescence properties and strong biotemplate-dependent cellular uptake behavior. Upon pre-engineering the surface charged groups of biotemplates, both optical properties and cellular behaviors of fluorescent gold nanoclusters can be simultaneously modulated.