Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding Anthraquinone

In recent years, anthraquinones have been widening their therapeutic opportunities given their numerous health benefits. The search for adequate delivery platforms to improve their pharmacokinetics leads us to propose herein folate-capped gold nanoparticles with an anthraquinone derivative attached...

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Main Authors: Ana B. Caballero, Nikolas J. Hodges, Michael J. Hannon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Inorganics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6740/13/3/87
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author Ana B. Caballero
Nikolas J. Hodges
Michael J. Hannon
author_facet Ana B. Caballero
Nikolas J. Hodges
Michael J. Hannon
author_sort Ana B. Caballero
collection DOAJ
description In recent years, anthraquinones have been widening their therapeutic opportunities given their numerous health benefits. The search for adequate delivery platforms to improve their pharmacokinetics leads us to propose herein folate-capped gold nanoparticles with an anthraquinone derivative attached onto their surface. Through a straightforward, two-step procedure, we obtained stable nanoparticles that can deliver anthraquinones selectively to cells overexpressing folate receptors. The new conjugates were highly toxic against two tumour cell lines, lung carcinoma A549 and cervical carcinoma HeLa, and showed significant in vitro targeting effects for FR+ HeLa cells. We anticipate that the convenience of this synthetic procedure could enable the future development of folate-targeted conjugates bearing highly active anthraquinone-derived drugs.
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spelling doaj-art-60f410909ff243bba9475a29ea92af322025-08-20T03:43:09ZengMDPI AGInorganics2304-67402025-03-011338710.3390/inorganics13030087Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding AnthraquinoneAna B. Caballero0Nikolas J. Hodges1Michael J. Hannon2School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKSchool of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKSchool of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKIn recent years, anthraquinones have been widening their therapeutic opportunities given their numerous health benefits. The search for adequate delivery platforms to improve their pharmacokinetics leads us to propose herein folate-capped gold nanoparticles with an anthraquinone derivative attached onto their surface. Through a straightforward, two-step procedure, we obtained stable nanoparticles that can deliver anthraquinones selectively to cells overexpressing folate receptors. The new conjugates were highly toxic against two tumour cell lines, lung carcinoma A549 and cervical carcinoma HeLa, and showed significant in vitro targeting effects for FR+ HeLa cells. We anticipate that the convenience of this synthetic procedure could enable the future development of folate-targeted conjugates bearing highly active anthraquinone-derived drugs.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6740/13/3/87anthraquinonegold nanoparticleDNA bindingantitumorfluorescence
spellingShingle Ana B. Caballero
Nikolas J. Hodges
Michael J. Hannon
Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding Anthraquinone
Inorganics
anthraquinone
gold nanoparticle
DNA binding
antitumor
fluorescence
title Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding Anthraquinone
title_full Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding Anthraquinone
title_fullStr Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding Anthraquinone
title_full_unstemmed Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding Anthraquinone
title_short Folate-Receptor-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Bearing a DNA-Binding Anthraquinone
title_sort folate receptor targeted gold nanoparticles bearing a dna binding anthraquinone
topic anthraquinone
gold nanoparticle
DNA binding
antitumor
fluorescence
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6740/13/3/87
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