Plasmonic nanosensors for imaging intracellular biomarkers in live cells.

Here we present the first intracellular molecular imaging platform using multifunctional gold nanoparticles which incorporate both cytosolic delivery and targeting moieties on the same particle. The utility of these intracellular sensors was demonstrated by monitoring actin rearrangement in live fibroblasts. We observed a strong molecular specific optical signal associated with effective targeting of actin filaments. These multifunctional nanosensors can be adapted to target various intracellular processes especially where transfection or cytotoxic labels are not feasible.