Impact of Sterilization on the Colloidal Stability of Ligand-Free Gold Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications
Sterilization is a major prerequisite for the utilization of nanoparticle colloids in biomedicine, a process well examined for particles derived from chemical synthesis although highly underexplored for electrostatically stabilized ligand-free gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Hence, in this work, we comp...
| Publié dans: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids. - 1985. - 38(2022), 43 vom: 01. Nov., Seite 13030-13047 |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Autres auteurs: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article en ligne |
| Langue: | English |
| Publié: |
2022
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| Accès à la collection: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids |
| Sujets: | Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Gold 7440-57-5 Reactive Oxygen Species Ligands |
| Résumé: | Sterilization is a major prerequisite for the utilization of nanoparticle colloids in biomedicine, a process well examined for particles derived from chemical synthesis although highly underexplored for electrostatically stabilized ligand-free gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Hence, in this work, we comprehensively examined and compared the physicochemical characteristics of laser-generated ligand-free colloidal AuNPs exposed to steam sterilization and sterile filtration as a function of particle size and mass concentration and obtained physicochemical insight into particle growth processes. These particles exhibit long-term colloidal stability (up to 3 months) derived from electrostatic stabilization without using any ligands or surfactants. We show that particle growth attributed to cluster-based ripening occurs in smaller AuNPs (∼5 nm) following autoclaving, while larger particles (∼10 and ∼30 nm) remain stable. Sterile filtration, as an alternative effective sterilizing approach, has no substantial impact on the colloidal stability of AuNPs, regardless of particle size, although a mass loss of 5-10% is observed. Finally, we evaluated the impact of the sterilization procedures on potential particle functionality in proton therapy, using the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a readout. In particular, 5 nm AuNPs exhibit a significant loss in activity upon autoclaving, probably dedicated to specific surface area reduction and surface restructuring during particle growth. The filtered analog enhanced the ROS release by up to a factor of ∼2.0, at 30 ppm gold concentration. Our findings highlight the need for carefully adapting the sterilization procedure of ligand-free NPs to the desired biomedical application with special emphasis on particle size and concentration |
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| Description: | Date Completed 02.11.2022 Date Revised 15.12.2022 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1520-5827 |
| DOI: | 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c01557 |