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BackgroundInteractions between nanoparticles and cells are now the focus of a fast-growing area of research. Though many nanoparticles interact with cells without any acute toxic responses, metal oxide nanoparticles including those composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2-NPs) may disrupt the intracellular process of macroautophagy. Autophagy plays a key role in human health and disease, particularly in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. We herein investigated the in vitro biological effects of TiO2-NPs (18 nm) on autophagy in human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cells at non-cytotoxic levels.ResultsTiO2-NPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering techniques. Cellular uptake, as evaluated by TEM and NanoSIMS revealed that NPs internalization led to the formation of autophagosomes. TiO2-NPs treatment did not reduce cell viability of HaCaT cells nor increased oxidative stress. Cellular autophagy was additionally evaluated by confocal microscopy using eGFP-LC3 keratinocytes, western blotting of autophagy marker LC3I/II, immunodetection of p62 and NBR1 proteins, and gene expression of LC3II, p62, NBR1, beclin1 and ATG5 by RT-qPCR. We also confirmed the formation and accumulation of autophagosomes in NPs treated cells with LC3-II upregulation. Based on the lack of degradation of p62 and NBR1 proteins, autophagosomes accumulation at a high dose (25.0 μg/ml) is due to blockage while a low dose (0.16 μg/ml) promoted autophagy. Cellular viability was not affected in either case.ConclusionsThe uptake of TiO2-NPs led to a dose-dependent increase in autophagic effect under non-cytotoxic conditions. Our results suggest dose-dependent autophagic effect over time as a cellular response to TiO2-NPs. Most importantly, these findings suggest that simple toxicity data are not enough to understand the full impact of TiO2-NPs and their effects on cellular pathways or function.

In order to study the effects of nanoparticles (NPs) with different physicochemical properties on cellular viability and structure, Saccharomyces cerevisiae were exposed to different concentrations of TiO2-NPs (1-3 nm), ZnO-NPs (<100 nm), CuO-NPs (<50 nm), their bulk forms, Ag-NPs (10 nm) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The GreenScreen assay was used to measure cyto- and genotoxicity, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) used to assess ultrastructure. CuO-NPs were highly cytotoxic, reducing the cell density by 80% at 9 cm(2)/ml, and inducing lipid droplet formation. Cells exposed to Ag-NPs (19 cm(2)/ml) and TiO2-NPs (147 cm(2)/ml) contained dark deposits in intracellular vacuoles, the cell wall and vesicles, and reduced cell density (40 and 30%, respectively). ZnO-NPs (8 cm(2)/ml) caused an increase in the size of intracellular vacuoles, despite not being cytotoxic. SWCNTs did not cause cytotoxicity or significant alterations in ultrastructure, despite high oxidative potential. Two genotoxicity assays, GreenScreen and the comet assay, produced different results and the authors discuss the reasons for this discrepancy. Classical assays of toxicity may not be the most suitable for studying the effects of NPs in cellular systems, and the simultaneous assessment of other measures of the state of cells, such as TEM are highly recommended.

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Engineered nanoparticles for biomedical applications require increasing effectiveness in targeting specific cells while preserving non-target cells safety.

Directing nanoparticles to cancer cells without using antibodies is of great interest. Subtle changes to the surface chemistry of nanoparticles can significantly affect their biological fate, including their propensity to associate with different cell populations. For instance, nanoparticles functionalized with thiol-reactive groups can potentially enhance association with cells that over-express cell-surface thiol groups. The potential of such an approach for enhancing drug delivery for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells has not been investigated. Herein, we investigate the impact of thiol-reactive star polymers on the cellular association and the mechanisms of uptake of the nanoparticles. Methods: We prepared fluorescently labeled star polymers functionalized with an mPEG brush corona and pyridyl disulfide to examine how reactivity to exofacial thiols impacts cellular association with ALL cells. We also studied how variations to the mPEG brush composition could potentially be used as a secondary method for controlling the extent of cell association. Specifically, we examined how the inclusion of shorter diethylene glycol brush moieties into the nanoparticle corona could be used to further influence cell association. Results: Star polymers incorporating both thiol-reactive and diethylene glycol brush moieties exhibited the highest cellular association, followed by those functionalized solely with thiol reactive groups compared to control nanoparticles in T and B pediatric ALL patient-derived xenografts harvested from the spleens and bone marrow of immunodeficient mice. Transfection of cells with an early endosomal marker and imaging with correlative light and electron microscopy confirmed cellular uptake. Endocytosis inhibitors revealed dynamindependent clathrin-mediated endocytosis as the main uptake pathway for all the star polymers. Conclusion: Thiol-reactive star polymers having an mPEG brush corona that includes a proportion of diethylene glycol brush moieties represent a potential strategy for improved leukemia cell delivery.

The large interactive surfaces of nanoparticles (NPs) increase the opportunities to develop NPs for vascular targeting. Proteomic analysis of endothelial cells exposed to NPs reveals the cellular response and turns the focus into the impairment of the endothelial permeability. Here, quantitative proteomics and transcriptome sequencing are combined to evaluate the effects of exposure to sub‐lethal concentrations of TiO2‐USNPs and TiO2‐NPs on human dermal microvascular endothelial cells. Endothelial cells react to preserve the semi‐permeable properties that are essential for vascular tissue fluid homeostasis, vascular development, and angiogenesis. The main impact of the exposure was alteration of functional complexes involved in cell adhesion, vesicular transport, and cytoskeletal structure. Those are the core cellular structures that are linked to the permeability and the integrity of the endothelial tissue. Moreover, the extracellular proteins uptake along wih the NPs into the endothelial cells escape the lysosomal degradation pathway. These findings improve the understanding of the interaction of NPs with endothelial cell. The effects of the studied NPs modulating cell–cell adhesion and vesicular transport can help to evaluate the distribution of NPs via intravenous administration.

Functionalization of super paramagnetic iron oxide NPs (SPIONs) with different coatings renders them with unique physicochemical properties that allow them to be used in a broad range of applications such as drug targeting and water purification. However, it is required to fill the gap between the promises of any new functionalized SPIONs and the effects of these coatings on the NPs safety. Nanotoxicology is offering diverse strategies to assess the effect of exposure to SPIONs in a case-by-case manner but an integrated nanoimpact scale has not been developed yet. We have implemented the classical integrated biological response (IBR) into an integrated nanoimpact index (INI) as an early warning scale of nano-impact based on a combination of toxicological end points such as cell proliferation, oxidative stress, apoptosis and genotoxicity. Here, the effect of SPIONs functionalized with tri-sodium citrate (TSC), polyethylenimine (PEI), aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTES) and Chitosan (chitosan) were assessed on human keratinocytes and endothelial cells. Our results show that endothelial cells were more sensitive to exposure than keratinocytes and the initial cell culture density modulated the toxicity. PEI-SPIONs had the strongest effects in both cell types while TSC-SPIONS were the most biocompatible. This study emphasizes not only the importance of surface coatings but also the cell type and the initial cell density on the selection of toxicity assays. The INI developed here could offer an initial rationale to choose either modifying SPIONs properties to reduce its nanoimpact or performing a complete risk assessment to define the risk boundaries.Environ. Sci.: Nano This journal is Functionalization of super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with different coatings renders them with unique physicochemical properties for a broad range of applications. However there is a gap between the promises of any new functionalized nanoparticle and the effects of the coatings on the nanosafety. This manuscript presents a strategy based on the integration of well-established early warning signals in an index that could reveal the relationship between the nanoparticle physico-chemical properties and their impact in the exposure. This index developed here could offer an initial rationale to choose either modifying the nanoparticle properties to reduce its nanoimpact or performing a complete risk assessment to define the risk boundaries.