Gold Nanoparticles Kill Cancer Cells by Stopping Cell Division

Gold nanoparticles that penetrate the nucleus of cancer cells damage the DNA, prevent the cells from completing the process of cell division, and lead to programmed death (apoptosis) of the cells.

Investigators from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, USA; www.gatech.edu) had previously shown that gold nanoparticles could be introduced into cancer cells, and after having been stimulated by laser light destroy them. In the current study, they have developed a solution for treating cancer cells that could not be reached by laser light.

The researchers reported in the February 19, 2010, online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) that by labeling the gold nanoparticles with the appropriate peptides, they could be directed to first the cytoplasm and then the nucleus of cancer cells. The cancer cells, which had been isolated from ear, nose, and throat cancers, were growing in tissue culture.

"Previously, we have shown that we can bring gold nanoparticles into cancer cells and by shining a light on them, can kill the cells. Now we have shown that if we direct those gold nanoparticles into the nucleus, we can kill the cancer cells that are in spots we cannot hit with the light,” explained senior author Dr. Mostafa El-Sayed, professor of chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "We have developed a system that can kill cancer cells by shining light on gold nanoparticles, but what if the cancer is in a place where we cannot shine light on it? To fix that problem, we have decorated the gold with a chemical that brings it inside the nucleus of the cancer cell and stops it from dividing. The gold works by interfering with the cells' DNA. The cell starts dividing and then it collapses. Once you have a cell with two nuclei, it dies.”

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Georgia Institute of Technology