Gold nanoparticles generated and stabilized by water soluble curcumin-polymer conjugate: Blood compatibility evaluation and targeted drug delivery onto cancer cells

► Curcumin conjugated AuNPs were synthesized using hyaluronic acid-curcumin conjugates. ► HA-Cur@AuNPs were further HA-Cur@AuNPs modified with folate conjugated PEG to improve the cancer cell targeting. ► PF.HA-Cur@AuNPs exhibited better dose dependent cytotoxicity toward different cancer cell lines. ► PF.HA-Cur@AuNPs demonstrated enhanced targeting efficacy of 95.4%.