Cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles to human lymphocytes: a comparison between rod-shaped and spherical nanoparticles

Jacek Sikora; Paulina Błaszkiewicz; Alina Dudkowiak; Joanna Jagielska; Jakub Żurawski

doi:10.5114/wo.2024.146995

eISSN: 1897-4309
ISSN: 1428-2526

Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia

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4/2024
vol. 28

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abstract:

Original paper

Cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles to human lymphocytes: a comparison between rod-shaped and spherical nanoparticles

Jacek Sikora

¹

,

Paulina Błaszkiewicz

²

,

Alina Dudkowiak

²

,

Joanna Jagielska

³

,

Jakub Żurawski

¹

Department of Immunobiology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
Faculty of Materials Engineering and Technical Physics, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland
Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland

Contemp Oncol (Pozn) 2024; 28 (4): 326–334

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/wo.2024.146995

Online publish date: 2025/01/15

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Introduction:
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have unique properties that promise new and improved methods for targeting cancer treatment and diagnosis. However, despite their relatively high biocompatibility, AuNPs can negatively affect cell viability. Research indicates that the interactions with the plasma membrane and cellular uptake of AuNPs depend significantly on size, shape, and surface modifications.

Material and methods:
We evaluated the use of human lymphocyte primary culture as a model for assessing the toxicity of AuNPs in proliferating cells. We compared the toxicity of rod-shaped, PEGylated AuNPs (gold nanorods, AuNRs) of two different sizes and gold nanospheres (AuNSs).

Results:
Our results show that at high concentrations, both AuNSs and AuNRs negatively affect the viability of activated human lymphocytes in vitro. The cytotoxic effect varies with size and concentration, with larger AuNRs (approx. 22 × 50 nm) being more toxic than smaller ones (approx. 20 × 40 nm) and 15 nm AuNSs exhibiting the lowest toxicity.

Conclusions:
Our results confirm that the application of AuNPs in cancer therapy and diagnostics must be accompanied by a thorough cytotoxicity assessment. Despite certain limitations, using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction test for viability assessment of proliferating cells proves to be a simple and cost-effective method useful in nanoparticle toxicity studies.

keywords:

Cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles to human lymphocytes: a comparison between rod-shaped and spherical nanoparticles

Jacek Sikora 1 , Paulina Błaszkiewicz 2 , Alina Dudkowiak 2 , Joanna Jagielska 3 , Jakub Żurawski 1

gold nanoparticles, gold nanorods, immunotoxicity, lymphocytes, nanomaterials, toxicity, theranostic nanoparticles

Jacek Sikora

¹

,

Paulina Błaszkiewicz

²

,

Alina Dudkowiak

²

,

Joanna Jagielska

³

,

Jakub Żurawski

¹