title: Cytotoxicity of gold nanoclusters in human liver cancer cells.
abstract: In this study, we synthesized water-soluble fluorescent gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) stabilized with dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA). The cytotoxicity of these Au NCs was then assessed in the normal human hepatic cell line (L02) and the human hepatoma cell line (HepG2) at different exposure times. Cell viability was normal in both cell lines at 24 hours and 48 hours; however, the growth of HepG2 cells was significantly inhibited at 72 hours. The change in lactate dehydrogenase level was strongly correlated with cell viability after 72 hours incubation with DHLA-capped Au NCs, and the increase in cellular reactive oxygen species may be related to the decrease in cell viability. Growth inhibition of HepG2 cells was possibly due to difficultly passing the checkpoint between G1 phase and S phase. The anticancer activity of DHLA-capped Au NCs should be considered when used in biomedical imaging and drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China ; School of Medicine, Henan University, Kaifeng, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nan
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bianfei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Henan University, Kaifeng, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shuangyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haixia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D006046:Gold
keywords: cell cycle; cell viability; cytotoxicity; gold nanocluster; reactive oxygen species