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. 2022 Mar 29;12(7):1126.
doi: 10.3390/nano12071126.

A Comparison of the Genotoxic Effects of Gold Nanoparticles Functionalized with Seven Different Ligands in Cultured Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Danielle Mulder  1 , Cornelius Johannes Francois Taute  1 , Mari van Wyk  1 , Pieter J Pretorius  1
Affiliations

A Comparison of the Genotoxic Effects of Gold Nanoparticles Functionalized with Seven Different Ligands in Cultured Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Danielle Mulder et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have shown great potential in diagnostic and therapeutic applications in diseases, such as cancer. Despite GNP versatility, there is conflicting data regarding the toxicity of their overall functionalization chemistry for improved biocompatibility. This study aimed to determine the possible genotoxic effects of functionalized GNPs in Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. GNPs were synthesized and biofunctionalized with seven common molecules used for biomedical applications. These ligands were bovine serum albumin (BSA), poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSSNA), trisodium citrate (citrate), mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA), glutathione (GSH), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Before in vitro genotoxicity assessment, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to determine GNP cellular internalization quantitatively, followed by cell-based assays; WST-1 to find IC 30 and ApoPercentage for apoptotic induction time-points. The effect of the GNPs on cell growth in real-time was determined by using xCELLigence, followed by a comet assay for genotoxicity determination. The HepG2 cells experienced genotoxicity for all GNP ligands; however, they were able to initiate repair mechanisms and recover DNA damage, except for two functionalization chemistries.

Keywords: HepG2; biofunctionalization; comet assay; cytotoxicity; genotoxicity; gold nanoparticles.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram showing the various methods used in this study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) High-resolution transmission electron microscopy micrograph of the citrate capped GNPs. (b) Percentage of GNP size distribution on 230 particles analyzed. (c) UV-Vis spectra of the functionalized GNP-ligands post sample clean-up.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cytotoxicity of the GNP-ligands at a range of concentrations on HepG2 cells (the ligand control contained ligand only in the same concentration as the highest concentration used, no GNP present). This data is based on an average of triplicate readings obtained for each concentration.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Growth curve of the HepG2 cells after dosing them with the GNP-ligands using the IC 30 concentration determined by the impedance of the xCELLigence technology. (b) is the inverse graph of (a), where the cytotoxicity of the GNP-ligands has been determined. This data is based on an average of triplicate readings obtained for each concentration.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comet assay average tail intensity for each of the GNP-ligand IC 30 concentrations at the 0 h, 3 h, and 24 h time points.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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