Sousa, Diana P.P. Sousa, DianaConde, JoãoConde, João2022-12-272022-12-272022-12-16PURE: 48425162PURE UUID: 4d06d602-41ef-4b25-9f27-1b317610a37dPubMedCentral: PMC9758562Scopus: 85145430822PubMed: 36595910http://hdl.handle.net/10362/146695Funding: The authors acknowledge Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support in the framework of the PhD grant 2020.06638.BD (D.P.S.) and the European Research Council Starting Grant ERC-StG-2019- 848325 (J.C.). Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5 were created with BioRender.com.This protocol describes the synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticle-based nanobeacons as a theranostic strategy for the recognition, detection, and inhibition of miRNA and mRNA. This system is designed for an in vitro evaluation of a sequence's silencing potential and later used for cellular and in vivo gene silencing approaches using fluorescence imaging, enhancing theranostic procedures in which nanoparticle-based sensors and inhibitors may provide simultaneous detection of different gene-associated conditions and nanodevices for a real-time monitoring of gene delivery. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Conde et al. (2015, 2013).1,2.5703586engjournal article10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101916