Size-dependent effect of cystine/citric acid-capped confeito-like gold nanoparticles on cellular uptake and photothermal cancer therapy

Saw WS 1 , Ujihara M 2 , Chong WY 3 , Voon SH 1 , Imae T 4 , Kiew LV 5 Show all authors , Lee HB 1 , Sim KS 6 , Chung LY 7

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43 Section 4, Keelung Road, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
  • 3 Photonics Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 4 Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43 Section 4, Keelung Road, Taipei 10607, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43 Section 4, Keelung Road, Taipei 10607, Taiwan. Electronic address: imae@mail.ntust.edu.tw
  • 5 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 6 Institute of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: chungly@hotmail.com
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces, 2018 Jan 01;161:365-374.
PMID: 29101882 DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.10.064

Abstract

Physiochemical changes, including size, are known to affect gold nanoparticle cellular internalization and treatment efficacy. Here, we report the effect of four sizes of cystine/citric acid-coated confeito-like gold nanoparticles (confeito-AuNPs) (30, 60, 80 and 100nm) on cellular uptake, intracellular localization and photothermal anticancer treatment efficiency in MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells. Cellular uptake is size dependent with the smallest size of confeito-AuNPs (30nm) having the highest cellular internalization via clathrin- and caveolae-mediated endocytosis. However, the other three sizes (60, 80 and 100nm) utilize clathrin-mediated endocytosis for cellular uptake. The intracellular localization of confeito-AuNPs is related to their endocytosis mechanism, where all sizes of confeito-AuNPs were localized highly in the lysosome and mitochondria, while confeito-AuNPs (30nm) gave the highest localization in the endoplasmic reticulum. Similarly, a size-dependent trend was also observed in in vitro photothermal treatment experiments, with the smallest confeito-AuNPs (30nm) giving the highest cell killing rate, whereas the largest size of confeito-AuNPs (100nm) displayed the lowest photothermal efficacy. Its desirable physicochemical characteristics, biocompatible nature and better photothermal efficacy will form the basis for further development of multifunctional confeito-AuNP-based nanotherapeutic applications.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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