Shape and surface effects on the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles: Gold nanospheres versus gold nanostars

Gold nanoparticles are materials with unique optical properties that have made them very attractive for numerous biomedical applications. With the increasing discovery of techniques to synthesize novel nanoparticles such as star-shaped gold nanoparticles for biomedical applications, the safety and performance of these new nanomaterials must be systematically assessed before use. In this study, gold nanostars (AuNSTs) with multibranched surface structures were synthesized, and their influence on the cytotoxicity of human skin fibroblasts and rat fat pad endothelial cells (RFPECs) were assessed and compared with that of gold nanospheres (AuNSPs) with unbranched surfaces. Results showed that the AuNSPs with diameters of approximately 61.46 nm showed greater toxicity with fibroblast cells and RFPECs compared with the synthesized AuNSTs with diameters of approximately 33.69 nm. The AuNSPs were lethal at concentrations of 40 μg/mL for both cell lines, whereas the AuNSTs were less toxic at higher concentrations (400 μg/mL). The calculated IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) values of the AuNSPs exposed to fibroblast cells were greater at 1 and 4 days of culture (26.4 and 27.7 μg/mL, respectively) compared with the RFPECs (13.6 and 13.8 μg/mL, respectively), indicating that the AuNSPs have a greater toxicity to endothelial cells. It was proposed that possible factors that could be promoting the reduced toxicity effects of the AuNSTs to fibroblast cells and RFPECs, compared with the AuNSPs may be size, surface chemistry, and shape of the gold nanoparticles. The reduced cell toxicity observed with the AuNSTs suggests that AuNSTs may be a promising material for use in biomedical applications.