Effects of treatments on the long-term survival of Caco-2 cells. The clonogenic assay was used to assess the effects of Low DOX (1.56 µg/mL), MGF (1000 µg/mL), HBE (1000 µg/mL), MGF-AuNPs (1000 µg/mL), HB-AuNPs (1000 µg/mL), MGF-AuNPs-DOX (1000 µg/mL MGF-AuNPs and 1.56 µg/mL DOX) and HB-AuNPs-DOX (1000 µg/mL HB-AuNPs and 1.56 µg/mL DOX) on the long-term survival of the cells. After a 24 h treatment, cells were cultured in medium without treatments for 14 days. Surviving cells were stained crystal violet; (a) shows images of the colonies (in blue) that were present after 14 days; (b) shows a summary of the colonies counted. Results are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Data were considered statistically significant if p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.