Surface Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles have been widely explored as cancer therapeutics and diagnostic agents in recent years. With their unique subcellular size and good biocompatibility, gold nanoparticles are a promising drug delivery vehicle. In this study, folic acid-coated gold nanoparticles conjugated with fluorophore FITC through amine terminated poly(ethylene glycol) were prepared and confocal microscopy together with bright-field differential interference contrast imaging data showed that folic acid-coated gold nanoparticles accumulated mainly in cytoplasm of primary human fibroblasts, without causing any observable cytotoxicity upon exposure for 48 hours. Through the further development of a drug delivery system that conjugates doxorubicin onto the surface of gold nanoparticles with a poly(ethylene glycol) spacer via an SMCC linker, we demonstrated that multidrug resistance in cancer cells can be significantly overcome by a combination of highly efficient cellular entry and enhanced cytotoxicity of Au-SMCC-DOX nanoconjugates, as revealed both by confocal microscopy imaging and cytotoxicity assay. The prepared Au-SMCC-DOX nanoconjugates demonstrated enhanced drug accumulation and retention in multidrug resistant hepG2-R cancer cells when it was compared with free doxorubicin, with a cytoplasm accumulation profile. The results indicated that gold nanoparticles are a kind of promising drug delivery vehicle with good biocompatibility and suitable for further applications in drug delivery for improved chemotherapy, especially for overcoming multidrug resistance.

A smart multifunctional drug delivery nanoplatform for targeting cancer cells

“…45,46 Here, we show the successful conjugation of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled thiol-ssDNA via the covalent thiol-Au coupling reaction on to the outer surface of the fabricated nanotubes, 47 in order to demonstrate the fluorescence traceability of our multifunctional drug delivery device as a proof of concept. Multiple studies in the past have used gold surfaces for conjugation of various molecules via covalent or non-covalent interactions.…”

pH-triggered release of manganese from MnAu nanoparticles that enables cellular neuronal differentiation without cellular toxicity

“…AuNPs have advantages over other NPs as they are comparatively less toxic and more biocompatible to the cells [44]. AuNPs are widely used as therapeutic drug or gene delivery vehicles due to their biocompatibility, lack of cytotoxicity, and ease of manipulation for further applications [45]. In contrast, a previous study has shown that Mn oxide NPs exhibited cytotoxicity [23].…”

Multifunctional Magnetoplasmonic Nanomaterials and Their Biomedical Applications

“…On the one hand, gold NPs have been widely used in cellular optical imaging, hyperthermia, and sensitive biodetection of DNA and proteins. 13 [25][26][27] This is because their facile and robust interaction with thiol and disulfide groups enables functionalization of these gold particles with various molecules that are capable of specifically recognizing biological substances; in addition, the diversity of possible practical applications is due to gold NPs' Delivered by Publishing Technology to: Rice University, Fondren Library IP: 114.46.99.20 On: Sat, 10 Oct 2015 12:19:06 Copyright: American Scientific Publishers exceptional optical properties that are influenced remarkably by their chemical environment, aggregation, the type of particles, and even their conformational differences. [28][29][30][31][32] Moreover, the plasmon resonance peak of Au could be shifted to the near-infrared (NIR) region by changing the proximity and geometry of the Au NPs.…”