Programming the Cellular Uptake of Physiologically Stable Peptide–Gold Nanoparticle Hybrids with Single Amino Acids

Uptake of gold nanoparticles by cancer cells can be manipulated by tuning the surface chemical modalities using hexapeptide ligands. This remarkable tuning was achieved by introducing only 5 % of tryptophan- or serine-ended peptide in the ligand mixture during surface modification. Uptake was governed by the aromatic ring structure of the end amino acids rather than their hydrophobicity.