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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Jul 3.
Published in final edited form as: ACS Chem Neurosci. 2019 Jan 15;10(3):1478–1487. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00486

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Structure and operation of the AuNP–PEG–Chol conjugate. (A) Functionalization of the 20 nm spherical AuNP (yellow sphere) with PEG–Chol using EDC chemistry which forms an amide bond between the TA–PEG–COOH and the PEG–Chol (see Experimental Methods). (B) Proposed interfacing of AuNP–PEG–Chol with the cell plasma membrane and light-induced activity. Plasmonic light absorption by the AuNP in response to a laser pulse induces, via a plasma membrane temperature increase, a capacitive current that results in opening of membrane-resident NaVs (blue transmembrane structures), the inward passage of sodium ions (blue spheres), and resulting AP generation. In both panels, illustrated structures are not shown to scale.