Gold Nanoparticles as Carriers for Synthetic Glycoconjugate Vaccines

Recent advances in the preparation and characterization of metal core-based nanoparticles have opened the way to their exploration as carriers for carbohydrate-based vaccines. Here we describe the protocols for the preparation and characterization of water dispersible gold nanoparticles (1–3 nm gold diameter) as carriers for carbohydrate antigens. We mainly refer to the protocols we used for the preparation of gold glyconanoparticles as carrier for an S. pneumoniae carbohydrate-antigen. The high number of ligands at the gold nanoparticles surface and the easiness of their one-pot preparation make these biocompatible nanomaterials an attractive tool for glyco-scientists.