Optical and electron microscopy study of laser-based intracellular molecule delivery using peptide-conjugated photodispersible gold nanoparticle agglomerates.

Background: Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) can act as carriers for therapeutic molecules such as drugs and genetic constructs for medical applications. The triggered release of the molecule into the cytoplasm can be crucial to its effective delivery. Hence, we implemented and characterized laser interaction with defined gold nanoparticle agglomerates conjugated to CPPs which enables efficient endosomal rupture and intracellular release of molecules transported.