A REVIEW ON FUNCTIONALIZED GOLD NANOPARTICLE

FOR CANCER TREATMENT

Dr.P.P.Vijaya, Dr.Selvakumar, Dr.R.Rajan, Dr.Yogananth, Dr.Syed Ali
DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Mohamed Sathak College of Arts & Science, Sholinganallur, Chennai-600119

Abstract:
Nanobiotechnology is the application of nanotechnology in biological fields.
Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that currently recruits approach, technology and
facility available in conventional as well as advanced avenues of engineering, physics,
chemistry and biology. The use of gold for medicinal purposes dates back to 2500 BC to the
ancient Chinese and Egyptians. The use of gold in modern medicine began in 1890 when the
German bacteriologist Robert Koch discovered that gold cyanide was bacteriostatic to the
tubercle bacillus in vitro. Gold has been considered to have beneficial properties for
centuries. Gold is a favoured material to form into spheres, shells, cages or wires on the scale
of ten to one thousand nanometer, gold can be bound to a wide variety of biochemically
functional groups and made to target specific types of cells. Gold nanoparticles which could
be used as carriers for delivering anti-cancer drugs and also for diagnosing the disease. The
gold nanoparticle was bio-compatible, easy to synthesis and multiple cancer drugs could be
loaded. It could reduce the toxicity of the anti-cancer drug, increase its efficacy and ensure
better retention of the drug in the blood system. When conjugated with gold nanoparticle,
the anti-cancer drug could stay for more time in the tumour and enhance the therapeutic
efficacy. The whole world is practicing herbal medicine to avoid maximum side effects and
for better treatment. The science of Ayurveda is supposed to add a step on to curative aspects
of cancers.

Keywords: Nanoparticles, Nanobiotechnology, Anti-Cancer, Nanoshells, Gold Nanoparticle