Adverse effects of citrate/gold nanoparticles on human dermal fibroblasts.

Nanoscale engineering is one of the most dynamically growing areas at the interface between electronics, physics, biology, and medicine. As there are no safety regulations yet, concerns about future health problems are rising. We investigated the effects of citrate/gold nanoparticles at different concentrations and exposure times on human dermal fibroblasts. We found that, as a result of intracellular nanoparticle presence, actin stress fibers disappeared, thereby inducing major adverse effects on cell viability. Thus, properties such as cell spreading and adhesion, cell growth, and protein synthesis to form the extracellular matrix were altered dramatically. These results suggest that the internal cell activities have been damaged.