Autophagy and oxidative stress associated with gold nanoparticles

Elemental metal nanoparticles like cadmium and silver are known to cause oxidative stress and are also highly toxic. Yet for gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), it is not well established whether these particles are biologically toxic. Here we show that AuNPs, which were taken up by MRC-5 human lung fibroblasts in vitro, induce autophagy concomitant with oxidative stress. We also observed formation of autophagosomes together with the uptake of AuNPs in...