Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have attracted great attention in biomedical fields due to their unique properties. However, there are few reports on clinical trial of these nanoparticles. In vivo, AuNPs face complex biological fluids containing abundant proteins, which challenge the prediction of their fate that is known as “bio-identity”. These proteins attach onto the AuNPs surface forming protein corona that makes the first step of nano-bio interface and dictates the subsequent AuNPs fate. Protein corona formation even stealth active targeting effect of AuNPs. Manipulating the protein corona identity based on the researcher goal is the way to employ corona to achieve maximum effect in therapy or other applications. In this review, we provide details on the biological identity of AuNPs under various environmental- and/or physiological conditions. We also highlight how the particular corona can direct the biodistribution of AuNPs. We further discuss the strategies available for controlling or reducing corona formation on AuNPs surface and achieving desired effects using AuNPs in vivo by engineering protein corona on their surface.

金纳米颗粒（AuNPs）由于其独特的性能而在生物医学领域引起了极大的关注。然而，关于这些纳米颗粒的临床试验的报道很少。在体内，AuNPs面临着含有丰富蛋白质的复杂生物流体，这挑战了人们对其命运的预测，即“生物身份”。这些蛋白质附着在AuNPs表面形成的蛋白质电晕上，从而形成纳米生物界面的第一步，并决定了随后的AuNPs命运。蛋白质电晕的形成甚至可以隐匿AuNPs的主动靶向作用。基于研究人员的目标来操纵蛋白质电晕特性是采用电晕在治疗或其他应用中获得最大效果的方法。在这篇综述中，我们提供了在各种环境和/或生理条件下AuNPs生物学特性的详细信息。我们还强调了特定的电晕如何指导AuNPs的生物分布。我们进一步讨论可用于控制或减少AuNPs表面上电晕形成并通过使用AuNPs在体内通过工程化其表面上的蛋白电晕来实现所需效果的策略。