Abstract
Purpose :
Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are promising targeting agents in drug and gene delivery for various cell types, including ocular cells due to their unique optical, magnetic properties, and ease in manipulating the surface characteristics. However, nascent Au NPs have been reported to have significant toxicity. The goal of this study is to create biocompatible Au NPs, which can be used as delivery agents for ocular cells.
Methods :
In this study, an established retinal pigmented epithelial (ARPE-19) cell line was used to assess toxicity. Au NPs were synthesized via citrate reduction method and further coated with end thiolized hyaluronate (HA). Total organic carbon (TOC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements were performed to quantify the amount of HA coating on Au NPs. HA conjugated Au NPs were tracked inside the cell via confocal microscopy (Figure 1A). The cell proliferation behavior was monitored continuously via electrical cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS; Applied Biophysics, NY) for 96 hours (Figure 1B). The biocompatibility of resultant HA-Au NPs was also tested with MTT and Apo Tox-GloTM (Promega, CA) assays (Figure 2).
Results :
The presence of hyaluronate coating on Au NPs was confirmed and quantified. ECIS, MTT and Apo Tox-GloTM results show that the ARPE-19 cells were able to proliferate and maintain a monolayer in the presence of the HA-Au NPs at concentrations where nascent Au NPs were toxic (Figures 1&2). Evidence is also provided to show that the HA Au NP’s crossed the cell membrane and were observed within the cells.
Conclusions :
Our results indicate that hyaluronate coated Au NPs have potential as delivery agents for ocular cells as they are shown to have enhanced biocompatibility compared to the nascent Au NPs with ARPE-19 cells.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.