Polyamidoamine-stabilized and hyaluronic acid-functionalized gold nanoparticles for cancer therapy

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are versatile nanomaterials that can be used as drug delivery systems and photothermal agents for cancer therapy. In this study, we developed a novel nanoplatform based on AuNPs using a modified one-pot chemical method for the synthesis of AuNPs using generation 3.0 highly branched biphasic polymeric (polyamidoamine) dendrimers as reducing and stabilizing agent, and hyaluronic acid (HA) as functional moiety. Tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) was chosen for this formulation to be encapsulated in the synthesized AuNPs and their efficacy as nanotherapeutics was investigated in vitro. The developed nanoplatform was characterized by various techniques and evaluated for its drug loading and release, cellular uptake, and cytotoxicity on Caco-2 cells. We found that the nanoplatform had optimal size, charge, stability, and solubility, and showed high encapsulation efficiency of THC. The nanoplatform exhibited pH-responsive drug release and enhanced cellular uptake of THC. The nanoplatform also induced apoptosis in Caco-2 cell line. The HA coating on the nanoplatform improved its biocompatibility and specificity, by facilitating its targeting to CD44 glycoprotein on Caco-2 cells. Our results suggest that the developed nanoplatform is a promising nanotherapeutic strategy for cancer therapy by co-delivering of anti-cancer agents and AuNPs to cancer cells.