Gold-nanocrystal-enhanced bioluminescent nanocapsules.

Metal-enhanced bioluminescence presents a great opportunity to achieve ultrasensitive analysis and imaging with low bioluminescent background and enhanced luminescence. We hereby report metal-enhanced bioluminescence based on bioluminescent protein nanocapsules conjugated with gold nanocrystals. Such gold-nanocapsule complexes exhibit near 10-fold enhancement in bioluminescent intensity and are effectively delivered into the cells with outstanding stability. This work offers a class of bioluminescent nanoparticles for imaging and other applications.