THE SYNTHESIS, STABILITY, AND COMPATIBILITY OF GOLD NANOPARTICLES IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Natalie Harvey,¹ Ju Chou,¹ Lyndsay Rhodes,² and Kerry Lee²

1Department of Chemistry, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers FL 33965, USA
2Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers FL 33965, USA

Our research focuses on the green chemistry synthesis of highly stable and size controlled gold nanoparticles which are tested in biological systems for biological compatibility. The nanoparticle solutions are all natural as they are made from fruit extract from bananas, kiwis, apples, and peaches. These nanoparticle solutions are then tested in various trials using breast cancer cells, zebrafish embryos, and bacteria to view the uptake of the nanoparticles into the biological system. The manipulation of particle size and concentration of the nanoparticle solutions allows us to find the most applicable size for consumption into the biological systems. Benefits to this research include attaching essential nutrients and medicines to the nanoparticles which then in turn are able to be absorbed by the organism and potentially save the system. Preliminary data for this study includes the synthesis of the nanoparticle solutions and trials testing the stability of the nanoparticles as well as their behavior within the cancer cell media. The first biological system being tested is MCF7 cancer cells as three trials have been completed thus far with good progress to determining the absorption rate of the nanoparticles into the cancer cells and the toxicity of the nanoparticle solution to the cells.