Nasopharyngeal cancer cell death induced by high-dose gold nanoparticles

This study investigated if gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) could be used as a new therapeutic agent for NPC by evaluating their anti-tumor effect in vitro. AuNPs prepared in this study had an average diameter of 20.5 nm and they were observed under light microscopy as dark material aggregated in the cells after treatment. The AuNPs reduced cell viability in a concentration-dependant manner by Trypan Blue assay: 74.7% at 50 μM, 39.0% at 100μM, and 7.1% at 200 μM, respectively. TUNEL stain was positive in AuNP-treated cells. The AuNP possess specific imaging properties and is cytotoxic to NPC cells at high concentrations.