Table 1.

Cellular responses induced by different types of Au NP.

Shape/size	Modification	Cell line	Uptake/location	Behavior/differentiation	Damage/toxicity	Molecules involved	Signal pathway	References
Rod 55 nm	Serum protein	A549, 16HBE MSC cells	Clathrin-mediated, from lysosome to mitochondria	Morphological change	Selective lysosomal membranes and actin damage	ROS	Mitochondrion-related pathway	[31]
Sphere 4 nm	PMA layer	HUVECs, C17.2 cells, PC12 cells	Active endocytosis	Cell cycle arrest	Cytoskeleton damage	Focal adhesion kinase, ROS	Actin-mediated pathway	[133]
Sphere, rod, urchin, 10–80 nm	PEG, CTAB	Microglia neural cells, transgenic mouse	Shape-dependent	N	Autophagy phagocytosis	IL-1 α, TLR-2 TNF-α, GM-CSF	Pro-inflammatory signals	[134]
Sphere 5, 10, 20 nm	PAA, PDHA	HL-60, HEK293 THP-1	N	N	Inflammation	Mac-1, IL-8, TNF-α	Mac-1 receptor pathway	[28]
Sphere 20 nm	Negative charged	MSCs osteoblast cells	Receptor-mediated endocytosis	MSCs toward osteoblast cells	Mechanical stress	p38	p38 MAPK pathway	[121]
NPs 20 nm	FBS	MRC-5 human lung fibroblasts	Endosomes, lysosomes	Autophagosome	Oxidative damage	ROS MAP-LC3	LKB1-AMPK signal pathway	[135]
Sphere 10, 25, 50 nm	Negatively charged	Normal rat kidney cells	Size-dependent endocytosis	N	Lysosome impairment	LC3, p62	Autophagic pathway	[35]
NPs 5, 20, 50, or 100 nm	Unmodified	EOC, A2780, OVCAR5, SKOV3-ip, OSE	Size-dependent endocytosis	Inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis	N	TSG-14, MMP 8, bFGF, TGF-β, E-cadherin, HB -GFs	p38-MAPK pathways, EMT	[136]
Au NRs	PSS, SiO2	NG108-15 neuronal cells	N	Differentiation	N	Ca2+	Ca2+ signal	[32]
Au NPs 2.7 nm	Tiopronin	MCF-7,HeLa L929, H520	Endosomes, lysosomes, perinuclear areas	N	Cytotoxicity depends on dose	ROS	N	[126]
Spherical Au NPs 21 nm	N	Male C57BL/6 mice,	Abdominal fat tissue, liver	N	No cytotoxicity	TNFα, IL-6	Inflammation related	[137]
A NR	Cetyltrimethylammonim bromide	A549, 16HBE	Mitochondria, lysosome	Metabolic change	Oxidative stress, mitochondria damage	Lactate GSH GSSG	Metabolic pathway	[113]
Au NRs 62.3 nm	PDDAC, PSS, PEG	MEF-1, MRC-5	Lysosome	N	Depend on dose and cell types	Bach-1, HO-1, ROS,	HO-1 pathways	[128]
Au NPs	PEG-silane layer, cRGD, PEG-diacrylate (PEG-DA) hydrogels	Hematopoietic KG-1a, REF52	N	Cell adhesion	Affect cell behavior	N	N	[130]
Au NPs	Single citrate capped	A549	Lysosome	Cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase	Aggregation of the MTs, apoptosis	Bax, p53, Bcl-2, PARP	Apoptosis-related pathway	[118]

N: not mentioned. EOC: epithelial ovarian cancer. OSE: ovarian surface epithelial. A549: human alveolar adenocarcinoma epithelial cells. 16HBE: normal bronchial epithelial cells. MEF-1: mouse embryo fibroblast cell line. MRC-5: human embryonal lung fibroblast cell line. REF52: rat embryonic fibroblast. PDDAC: poly (diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride). PSS: polyethylene glycol and polystyrene sulfonate. HO-1: heme oxygenase-1. MTs: microtubules. PARP: poly (ADP-ribose) polymer. MSCs: mesenchymal stem cells. PMA: a phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate.