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Biocompatible Chitosan-Coated Gold Nanoparticles: Novel, Efficient, and Promising Nanosystems for Cancer Treatment

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Handbook of Polymer and Ceramic Nanotechnology

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of advances in the field of nanoparticles-mediated cancer treatment, where biocompatible chitosan-coated gold nanoparticles are proved to be the efficient and promising nanosystems, for treatment of various types of cancer. Nanoparticles have emerged as one of the most effective agents to develop novel techniques in diverse fields due to their small size and versatile surface chemistry that have proved to be advantageous for various biomedical applications, some of which include targeted drug and gene delivery, efficient diagnosis, and therapeutic applications for cancer treatment. In this chapter, special attention is devoted to the use of gold nanoparticles in cancer treatment, which are found to be an outstanding choice for attacking cancer cells, due to their low toxicity, efficient target specificity, diagnostic capabilities, and enhanced cellular uptake rate. The synthesis methods and properties of gold nanoparticles are discussed in brief. Special attention is paid to the benefits and risks of using gold nanoparticles. The discussion focuses on aspects related to the treatment of cancer where the influence of size and shape is important from the characteristics of the materials as well as from the biological point of view. The role of gold nanoparticles is also analyzed from the point of view of its influence on the delivery of different anticancer agents. Since gold nanoparticles tend to aggregate owing to their anisotropy, synthesizing a stable colloidal system containing gold nanoparticles is difficult. This challenge can be overcome by coating them with natural and bioabsorbable polymer, i.e., chitosan, which can stabilize them and increase their biocompatibility. Chitosan nanoparticles have become famous for their biodegradability, easy availability, cancer imaging, and less cytotoxicity. Moreover, owing to the release of desired molecules in a consistent and regulatory manner, various anticancer agents can be transported to tumor sites via these nanoparticles leading to their eradication and downregulation, due to which chitosan-stabilized gold nanoparticles provide a promising pathway for the treatment of cancer. This chapter highlights the current advances in the application as well as future perspectives of chitosan-coated gold nanoparticles for the treatment of several types of cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Shikha Gulati, Sanjay Kumar, Parinita Singh, Anchita Diwan & Ayush Mongia

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  1. Shikha Gulati
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  2. Sanjay Kumar
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  3. Parinita Singh
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  4. Anchita Diwan
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  5. Ayush Mongia
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Chemistry and EVSC, New Jersey InstTech, 151 D Tiernan-NJIT, Newark, NJ, USA

    Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain

  2. Centre for Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India

    Sabu Thomas

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Gulati, S., Kumar, S., Singh, P., Diwan, A., Mongia, A. (2020). Biocompatible Chitosan-Coated Gold Nanoparticles: Novel, Efficient, and Promising Nanosystems for Cancer Treatment. In: Hussain, C.M., Thomas, S. (eds) Handbook of Polymer and Ceramic Nanotechnology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10614-0_56-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10614-0_56-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10614-0

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