The Effects of Gold Nanoparticles on the Choroidal Melanoma Cells: An In Vitro Study

Abstract

 

Purpose

 

To study the effects of different sizes and concentrations of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on the cell viability in choroidal melanoma.

 

Methods

 

GNPs were synthesized following the Fern’s method. Two different diameters of 20 and 40 nm were prepared by making changes in the citrate volume. The uveal melanoma (UM) tissue was obtained after enucleation of an eye. UM cells were cultivated in DMEM with 20% FBS. In the seventh passage, cells were grown on two 24-well plates in which the first five wells were incubated with different concentrations of GNPs and the sixth well saved as control in both plates. The first five wells in the first and second plates had the concentrations of 200, 150, 100, 50 and 25 µg for NPs with the diameter of 20nm and 600, 400, 200, 100 and 50 µg for NPs with the diameter of 40nm, respectively. The MTT assay was done after incubating the cells for 48 hours at 37°C.

 

Results

 

The larger diameter of GNPs correlated with a higher reduction in cell viability. At a fixed size of GNPs, cell viability decreased with increasing GNPs concentration. The concentrations of 600 and 400 µg for GNPs with the diameter of 40 nm obviously affected the cell viability . For 20 nm diameter, nearly similar behavior for all concentrations of GNPs was observed although the concentration of 200 µg showed a more obvious decrease in the cell viability of the choroidal melanoma cells ( Fig. 1).

 

Conclusions

 

Higher concentrations have more cytotoxic effects on the choroidal melanoma cells in GNPs with a larger diameter compared with those with a smaller diameter. The concentrations lower than 200 µg show better biocompatibility for both sizes of GNPs. Further in vivo cytotoxicity studies are required before high-concentration GNPs can be used for the treatment of choroidal melanoma .  

 

Figure 1: Cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles with different concentrations and sizes following incubation with uveal melanoma cells after 48 hours.