Abstract: Multi-drug resistance is a major clinical challenge today. The good antibacterial effect of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) based on their unique physical and chemical properties make such systems ideal for application as antibacterial drug carriers or self-modified therapeutic agents both in vitro and in vivo. AuNPs also have good clinical application prospects for their broad antibacterial spectrum, various antibacterial mechanisms and good biocompatibility. However, their structural stability in vivo, antibacterial mechanism, long-term safety and cytotoxicity of the surface modification have yet to be further explored and improved through subsequent studies.

Key words: gold nanoparticles, antibacterial, mechanism, biocompatibility