Herein, the cytotoxicity, cellular uptake and wound healing of human dermal fibroblasts were investigated upon treatment with gold nanorods (GNR) decorated with different ligands. Neutral and cationic poly ethylene glycol (PEG)-decorated GNR demonstrated the least cytotoxicity and cellular internalization, while anionic- and bovine serum albumin (BSA)-coated GNR revealed significant cytotoxicity and cellular uptake into human dermal fibroblasts. The cell scratch test demonstrated that neutral, cationic PEGylated GNR and anionic-decorated GNR have accelerated the wound healing rate in vitro after 24 h of incubation with scratched human dermal fibroblasts compared to control, while there was a drastic retardation of wound healing rate of scratched fibroblasts upon exposure to BSA-GNR accompanied with a significant release of the inflammatory cytokine; interlukin-1β (IL-1β). The cytotoxicity of GNR against the dermal cells and their ability to enhance the wound healing in vitro are greatly linked to their surface modifications.

The authors wish to make the following correction to Figure 1 D in this paper [...]