Amorphous silica nanoparticles do not induce cytotoxicity, cell transformation or genotoxicity in Balb/3T3 mouse fibroblasts

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• 作者：Chiara Uboldi ; Guido Giudetti ; Francesca Broggi ; Douglas Gilliland ; Jessica Ponti ; ^{jessica.ponti@jrc.ec.europa.eu} ; Franç ; ois Rossi
• 关键词：Amorphous silica nanoparticles ; Cytotoxicity ; Morphological transformation ; Genotoxicity ; Uptake
• 刊名：Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：31_13835718
• 类别：pha
• 出版时间：14 June, 2012
• 卷：745
• 期：1-2
• 页码：11-20
• 文件大小：1095 K

摘要

Although amorphous silica nanoparticles (aSiO₂NPs) are believed to be non-toxic and are currently used in several industrial and biomedical applications including cosmetics, food additives and drug delivery systems, there is still no conclusive information on their cytotoxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic potential. For this reason, this work has investigated the effects of aSiO₂NPs on Balb/3T3 mouse fibroblasts, focusing on cytotoxicity, cell transformation and genotoxicity. Results obtained using aSiO₂NPs, with diameters between 15 nm and 300 nm and exposure times up to 72 h, have not shown any cytotoxic effect on Balb/3T3 cells as measured by the MTT test and the Colony Forming Efficiency (CFE) assay. Furthermore, aSiO₂NPs have induced no morphological transformation in Balb/3T3 cells and have not resulted in genotoxicity, as shown by Cell Transformation Assay (CTA) and Micronucleus (MN) assay, respectively. To understand whether the absence of any toxic effect could result from a lack of internalization of the aSiO₂NPs by Balb/3T3 cells, we have investigated the uptake and the intracellular distribution following exposure to 85 nm fluorescently-labelled aSiO₂NPs. Using fluorescence microscopy, it was observed that fluorescent aSiO₂NPs are internalized and located exclusively in the cytoplasmic region. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that although aSiO₂NPs are internalized in vitro by Balb/3T3 mouse fibroblasts, they do not trigger any cytotoxic or genotoxic effect and do not induce morphological transformation, suggesting that they might be a useful component in industrial applications.