INTERACTION OF FUNCTIONALIZED GOLD NANOPARTICLES WITH BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES

The way gold nanoparticles, GNP, functionalized with various compounds, interact with cell membranes is of great interest for medical applications. The compounds used were trans-resveratrol, R, piperine, P, and icariin, Ic, with anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as doxorubicin, D, with anticancer activity. Through the self-assembly mechanism, these compounds made a coating layer on the surface of gold, generating GNP@R/P/Ic/D nano drug carriers. They were developed to transport the active compounds into the cancer cell. The self-assembled layer on GNP was achieved through non-covalent interactions, including hydrogen bonds and electrostatic forces, which provide excellent stability to the functionalized nanoparticles and enhanced bioavailability of these compounds. Functionalized GNPs can interact with cell membranes and penetrate into cancer cells through various mechanisms, where they act on the DNA and might induce programmed cell death. Moreover, this study presents some interaction mechanisms of nanoparticles with cell membranes, such as cellular blebbing, which is an approach to destroy cancer cells. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of action mechanisms of various anticancer compounds on cancerous membranes and cells.