There is an enormous progress in the development of highly sophisticated nanoparticulate systems designed to perform multiple tasks in complex environments such as active layers of photovoltaic cells or complex biological environments. The properties of nanoparticles can be customized according to the choice of the chemical composition of the nanoparticle core and the nature of nanoparticle surface chemistry. While an organic nanoparticle core can be sensitive in specific external stimuli such as pH, an inorganic core can provide nanoparticles with intrinsic optoelectronic, magnetic and mechanical properties. Moreover, the choice of the ligands to coat the nanoparticle provides reactivity, targeted delivery and robustness in complex media.
In this presentation I will discuss recent progress in our group concerning the design of nanoparticles and their utilization to facilitate sensing, drug delivery and accurate manipulation. The main part of my talk will focus on the study of epithelial to mesenchymal transition and the selective sensing and drug delivery using DNA-coated gold nanoparticles as well as on the activation and inhibition of angiogenesis employing peptide coated nanoparticles.