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BackgroundSurface charge and oxidative stress are often hypothesized to be important factors in cytotoxicity of nanoparticles. However, the role of these factors is not well understood. Hence, the aim of this study was to systematically investigate the role of surface charge, oxidative stress and possible involvement of mitochondria in the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon exposure of rat macrophage NR8383 cells to silicon nanoparticles. For this aim highly monodisperse (size 1.6 ± 0.2 nm) and well-characterized Si core nanoparticles (Si NP) were used with a surface charge that depends on the specific covalently bound organic monolayers: positively charged Si NP-NH2, neutral Si NP-N3 and negatively charged Si NP-COOH.ResultsPositively charged Si NP-NH2 proved to be more cytotoxic in terms of reducing mitochondrial metabolic activity and effects on phagocytosis than neutral Si NP-N3, while negatively charged Si NP-COOH showed very little or no cytotoxicity. Si NP-NH2 produced the highest level of intracellular ROS, followed by Si NP-N3 and Si NP-COOH; the latter did not induce any intracellular ROS production. A similar trend in ROS production was observed in incubations with an isolated mitochondrial fraction from rat liver tissue in the presence of Si NP. Finally, vitamin E and vitamin C induced protection against the cytotoxicity of the Si NP-NH2 and Si NP-N3, corroborating the role of oxidative stress in the mechanism underlying the cytotoxicity of these Si NP.ConclusionSurface charge of Si-core nanoparticles plays an important role in determining their cytotoxicity. Production of intracellular ROS, with probable involvement of mitochondria, is an important mechanism for this cytotoxicity.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes and microvesicles (<200 nm), play a vital role in intercellular communication and carry a net negative surface charge under physiological conditions. Zeta potential (ZP) is a popular method to measure the surface potential of EVs, while used as an indicator of surface charge, and colloidal stability influenced by surface chemistry, bioconjugation, and the theoretical model applied. Here, we investigated the effects of such factors on ZP of well-characterized EVs derived from the human choriocarcinoma JAr cells. The EVs were suspended in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) of various phosphate ionic concentrations (0.01, 0.1, and 1 mM), with or without detergent (Tween-20), or in the presence (10 mM) of different salts (NaCl, KCl, CaCl 2 , and AlCl 3 ) and at different pH values (4, 7, and 10) while the ZP was measured. The ZP changed inversely with the buffer concentration, while Tween-20 caused a significant ( p < 0.05) lowering of the ZP. Moreover, the ZP was significantly ( p < 0.05) less negative in the presence of ions with higher valency (Al 3+ /Ca 2+ ) than in the presence of monovalent ones (Na + /K + ). Besides, the ZP of EVs became less negative at acidic pH, and vice versa . The integrated data underpins the crucial role of physicochemical attributes that influence the colloidal stability of EVs.

Although it is hypothesized that surface (like surface charge) and physical characteristics (like particle size) play important roles in cellular interactions of nanoparticles (NPs), a systematic study probing this issue is missing. Hence, a comparative cytotoxicity study quantifying nine different cellular endpoints, was performed with a broad series of monodisperse, well characterized silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) NPs with various surface functionalizations. Human colonic adenocarcinoma Caco-2 and rat alveolar macrophage NR8383 cells were used, to clarify the toxicity of this series of NPs. The surface coatings on the NPs appeared to dominate the cytotoxicity: the cationic NPs exhibited cytotoxicity, whereas the carboxylic acid-terminated and hydrophilic PEG- or dextran-terminated NPs did not. Within the cationic Si NPs, smaller Si NPs were more toxic than bigger ones. Manganese-doped (1 % Mn) Si NPs did not show any added toxicity, which favors their further development for bioimaging. Iron-doped (1 % Fe) Si NPs showed some added toxicity, which may be due to the leaching of Fe3+ ions from the core. A silica coating seemed to impart toxicity, in line with the reported toxicity of silica. Intracellular mitochondria seem to be a target organ for the toxic NPs since a dose-, surface charge- and size-dependent imbalance of the mitochondrial membrane potential was observed. Such imbalance led to a series of other cellular events for cationic NPs, like decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and ATP production, induction of ROS generation, increased cytoplasmic Ca2+ content, production of TNF-α and enhanced caspase-3 activity. Taken together, the results explain the toxicity of Si NPs/Ge NPs largely by their surface characteristics, provide insight in the mode of action underlying the observed cytotoxicity, and give directions on synthesizing biocompatible Si and Ge NPs, as this is crucial for bioimaging and other applications in for example the field of medicine.

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