As a bridge between individual atoms and large plasmonic nanoparticles, ultrasmall (core size <3 nm) noble metal nanoparticles (UNMNPs) have been serving as model for us to fundamentally understand many unique properties of noble metals that can only be observed at an extremely small size scale. With decades'efforts, many significant breakthroughs in the synthesis, characterization and functionalization of UNMNPs have laid down a solid foundation for their future applications in the healthcare. In this review, we aim to tightly correlate these breakthroughs with their biomedical applications and illustrate how to utilize these breakthroughs to address long-standing challenges in the clinical translation of nanomedicines. In the end, we offer our perspective on the remaining challenges and opportunities at the frontier of biomedical-related UNMNPs research.

中文翻译：

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超小型贵金属纳米颗粒：突破和生物医学意义

作为单个原子和大型等离子体纳米颗粒之间的桥梁，超小型（核心尺寸<3 nm）贵金属纳米颗粒（UNMNP）一直为我们提供模型，帮助我们从根本上了解贵金属的许多独特性质，而这些性质只能在极小的尺寸下观察到。尺寸比例。经过几十年的努力，UNMNPs的合成、表征和功能化方面取得了许多重大突破，为其未来在医疗保健领域的应用奠定了坚实的基础。在这篇综述中，我们的目标是将这些突破与其生物医学应用紧密联系起来，并说明如何利用这些突破来解决纳米医学临床转化中长期存在的挑战。最后，我们对生物医学相关 UNMNP 研究前沿剩余的挑战和机遇提出了我们的看法。