Thionine Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles Trigger Apoptotic Activity Toward HepG2 Cancer Cell Line.

Cancer cells were locally damaged using targeted gold nanoparticles (GNP) conjugated with therapeutic dye thionine (TN). GNP was prepared by citrate reduction method, and the two complexes, namely GTN1 and GTN2, were synthesized by mixing GNP and TN at different ratios at room temperature and at 80 °C, respectively. It is expected that GTN1 is formed when stabilizer TN participates in the reduction of Au ions to Au nanocrystallites, while GTN2 is synthesized when the cationic dye TN adsorbs onto the GNP surfaces due to the electrostatic attraction.