There has been growing interest in the use of nanomaterials for a range of biomedical applications over the last number of years. In particular, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) possess a number of unique properties that make them ideal candidates as radiosensitizers on the basis of their strong photoelectric absorption coefficient and ease of synthesis. However, despite promising preclinical evidence in vitro supported by a limited amount of in vivo experiments, along with advances in mechanistic understanding, GNPs have not yet translated into the clinic. This may be due to disparity between predicted levels of radiosensitization based on physical action, observed biological response and an incomplete mechanistic understanding, alongside current experimental limitations. This paper provides a review of the current state of the field, highlighting the potential underlying biological mechanisms in GNP radiosensitization and examining the barriers to clinical translation.

中文翻译：

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金纳米颗粒放射增敏的生物学机制。

在过去的几年里，人们对将纳米材料用于一系列生物医学应用越来越感兴趣。特别是，金纳米粒子（GNP）具有许多独特的性质，由于其强大的光电吸收系数和易于合成，使其成为放射增敏剂的理想候选者。然而，尽管有有限数量的体内实验支持的有希望的临床前证据，以及机制理解的进步，GNP 尚未转化为临床。这可能是由于基于物理行为、观察到的生物反应和不完整的机制理解以及当前实验限制所预测的放射增敏水平之间的差异。本文对该领域的现状进行了回顾，强调了 GNP 放射增敏的潜在潜在生物学机制，并探讨了临床转化的障碍。