The Potential of Gold Nanoparticle Conjugates to Kill Cancer Cells in Culture

The anticancer potential of gold nanoparticle conjugates was investigated. The gold nanoparticles were conjugated to paclitaxel (Taxol) to determine if the gold nanoparticle conjugates are as effective at killing cancer cells as the Taxol alone. Cytotoxicity of samples against breast, skin and lung cancer cell lines was determined using the MTT viability assay (a colourimetric assay detecting survival in microplates). The cancer cells were not significantly killed by the gold nanoparticles. However, the skin cancer and breast cancer cells were killed by the Taxol alone and the gold nanoparticle-Taxol conjugate with approximately 65% cell killing at the highest dose.