Abstract
Mercaptosuccinic acid-coated gold (GM) nanoparticles were prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Folic acid (F) was then conjugated to the GM to preferentially target oral squamous cancer (KB) cells with folate receptors expressed on their membranes and facilitate the transit of the nanoparticles across the cell membrane. Finally, a fluorescence dye (Atto) was conjugated to the nanoparticles to visualize their internalization into KB cells. After culture of the cells in a medium containing GM and folate-conjugated GM (GF), the interaction of surface-modified gold nanoparticles with KB cells was studied.
Highlights
For more than one decade, nanometer-sized gold nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention because of their size- and shape-dependent optical and electronic properties that are distinctly different from the corresponding bulk materials and due to their potential applications in thermal, catalysis, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, photoelectronic devices, biomedical diagnostics, and other related fields [1,2,3]
Fetal bovine serum (FBS), Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM, high glucose), penicillin-streptomycin, trypsin/EDTA, Dulbecco's phosphate buffer saline (PBS), Atto 680 fluorescence dye, and 4,6-diamidine-2-phenylindole dihydrochoride (DAPI, blue) cell staining kits were purchased from Gibco BRL (Carlsbad, CA, USA)
Gold nanoparticles conjugated with folic acid and Atto dye (GFA) exhibited absorptions at both 282 and 680 nm (Figure 2c), denoting the presence of folic acid and Atto dye on the gold nanoparticle surface
Summary
For more than one decade, nanometer-sized gold nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention because of their size- and shape-dependent optical and electronic properties that are distinctly different from the corresponding bulk materials and due to their potential applications in thermal, catalysis, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, photoelectronic devices, biomedical diagnostics, and other related fields [1,2,3]. Gold nanoparticles offer important new possibilities in cancer diagnosis and therapy [4]. They can be used for the location and visualization [5,6,7] of tumors in their primary and potentially secondary locations, as delivery vehicles for anticancer drugs, and in non-invasive ablation therapies. Gold nanoparticles are novel promising biocompatible nanoprobes, exhibiting surfaces and cores with specific physicochemical properties, e.g., optical chirality [8], fluorescence [9,10], near-infrared photoluminescence, [11], and ferromagnetism [12], which provide new opportunities for clinical diagnostics. Administered nanoparticles with tumor-binding ligands can accumulate in the tumors, owing to the more chaotic vasculature compared to non-diseased tissue [14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
