In the present study, we have conjugated methotrexate as a cytotoxic drug with gold nanoparticles modified with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid to explore their potential application in cancer therapy. The anticancer activity of methotrexate-gold nanoparticle conjugates (GNP-MTX) was demonstrated in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Gold nanoparticles have been synthesized using tri-sodium citrate as a reducing and stabilizing agent whereas 11-marcaptoundecanoic acid was used as a thiol functionalizing

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... nd in the aqueous medium. The formation of gold nanoparticles was confirmed from the characteristic surface Plasmon absorption band at 522 nm and the transmission electron microscopy revealed the average particle size to be (∼ 20 nm). Methotrexate was conjugated to thiolated gold nanoparticles by using N-hydroxy succinimide (NHS) and N, N-Dicyclohexylcarbo-Di-imide (DCC) conjugation procedure and the binding was analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to investigate the possible chemical interaction between MTX and 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid.