Table 3. Physical-chemical properties of the GNPs employed in the study.

NP Type	Acronym	SPR peak	Size (nm)a	Zeta-Potential (mV)b	PEG mol per particle	AntagomiR (nM) on GNPs
(reference only)	Unmodified NPs	519	14.4± 2.7	-19.2± 4.2	NA	NA
Au-PEG-30% PEG	PEG	521	18.5± 3.9	-25.2± 2.7	200.16 ± 15.01	NA
Au-NS-30% PEG	NS	523	39.75±1.2	-32.9± 1.4	200.16 ± 15.01	1123.81
Au-5A-30% PEG	5A	523	37.12±2.4	-34.3± 2.9	200.16 ± 15.01	965.35
Au-3A-30% PEG	3A	523	38.84±3.1	-32.3± 1.6	200.16 ± 15.01	1058.53

Please note that 5A denotes the 5’ end of the antagonist sequence of miR-31, and 3A denotes the 3’ end of the antagonist sequence of miR-31. NS is a nonsense stand, non-targeting miRNA, used as a negative control. SPR corresponds to the plasmon resonance, a method to determine NP aggregation.

^a Determined by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS).

^b Nanoparticles analysed at a concentration of 2 nM in water in a total volume of 1 mL, with 0.1 M KCl.