Selective cytotoxicity of citrate-stabilized gold nanorods against aggressive cancer cells and their potential in the melanoma treatment

Abstract

While personalized cancer therapies have improved treatment efficacy for specific cancer types, cancers with unclear genetic factors remain a challenge. Gold nanorods (GNRs) have gained attention as cancer therapies due to their anticancer effects even without light irradiation. This study investigates the anticancer effects of citrate-stabilized gold nanorods (CGNRs) on melanoma cell lines and tumors, as well as the factors influencing their efficacy. The study found that CGNRs exhibited strong sensitivity in specific cancer cells but not in normal cells. Cell viability analysis showed that CGNRs induce cell death in a concentration-dependent manner, and their anticancer effects are mainly due to necrosis. In vivo experiments using a murine melanoma model showed that intratumoral administration of CGNRs significantly suppressed tumor growth without body weight loss. Interestingly, our results suggest that the anticancer effects of CGNRs were independent of their cellular uptake efficiency but may be highly correlated with the aggressiveness of cancer cells. Overall, the results suggest that CGNRs have promising potential as a specific treatment for melanoma, especially for aggressively proliferating cells, and may represent an alternative or complementary therapy to conventional chemotherapy.