Enhanced delivery of doxorubicin via transferrin-coated arylated gold nanostars for cancer therapy.

Transferrin protein-coated gold-aryl nanoparticles (TRF-AuNPs) and nanostars (TRF-AuNSs) were synthesized and characterized. The water-dispersible gold-aryl nanoparticles and nanostars covalently functionalized with a -CH-4-COOH organic shell were synthesized from an aryldiazonium gold(III) salt. TRF-AuNPs had an average size of 10.5 ± 5.6 nm, and TRF-AuNSs had an average size of 177.4 ± 31.3 nm, as obtained with transmission electron microscopy. The zeta potential values indicated a positive surface charge of + 35 mV for both bioconjugates, indicating successful functionalization. An MTT assay was performed to investigate the cytotoxicity of TRF-AuNSs, which was confirmed to be non-toxic in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. Cellular uptake was analyzed using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. TRF was chosen to functionalize gold-aryl NPs and gold-aryl NSs because of the overexpression of its receptors on cancer cells. The efficiency of TRF-AuNSs was investigated, and the TRF protein receptor expression on cancer cells was probed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The antiproliferative effects of the doxorubicin drug (Dox) were assessed; the gold nanomaterials were evaluated as efficient carriers for the anticancer drug Dox. Dox-coated TRF-gold nanomaterials induced apoptosis and necrosis via DNA damage and increased ROS levels, as confirmed by flow cytometry and spectrofluorometry. Our study supports the significance of the shape of gold nanomaterials in Dox drug delivery to cancer cells.