Cisplatin‐loaded Au–Au2S nanoparticles for potential cancer therapy: Cytotoxicity, in vitro carcinogenicity, and cellular uptake

Cisplatin is one of the most effective cytotoxic agents against cancers. Its usage, however, is limited because of severe resistance and systemic toxicity. A formulation of cisplatin-loaded Au–Au2S nanoparticles (NPs) with near-IR (NIR) sensitivity is reported to partly overcome this limitation in this paper. NIR sensitive Au–Au2S NPs were successfully synthesized by the reduction of tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl4) using sodium sulfide (Na2S), and cisplatin was loaded onto Au–Au2S NPs via a MUA (11-mercaptoundecanoic acid) layer. To further investigate the biological safety of cisplatin-loaded Au–Au2S NPs, three different cell lines were used to investigate the acute cytotoxicity and the long-term potential carcinogenicity in vitro. Cisplatin-loaded Au–Au2S NPs were also tested for limited hemocompatibility in vitro. Our in vitro short and long-term data provided preliminary evidence suggesting that cisplatin-loaded Au–Au2S NPs with NIR sensitivity are nontoxic below the maximum recommended dosage. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2008