Nontoxic impact of PEG-coated gold nanospheres on functional pulmonary surfactant-secreting alveolar type II cells

Abstract

The outstanding properties of gold nanoparticles (NPs) make them very attractive for biomedical applications. In particular, the inhalation route has gained considerable interest as an innovative strategy for diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary diseases. It is, therefore, important to scrutinise the potentially deleterious or side effects of NPs on lung epithelium. The present study investigates, for the first time, the impact of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated NPs on freshly purified primary cultures of rat alveolar type II (ATII) cells. These cells play a central role in the respiratory function of the lungs. They are responsible for synthesizing and secreting pulmonary surfactant (PS), which is required to stabilise the respiratory surface during breathing dynamics. Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of NPs was evaluated by analysing morphology, viability and exocytotic activity of ATII cells (PS secretion). The impact of ATII cells' exposure to NPs was studied in a wide range of gold concentration with particles sizes of 15 and 100 nm. The results show that PEG-coated NPs are very modestly internalised by ATII cells and it neither leads to detectable morphological changes nor to decreased cell viability nor to alterations in basic functional parameters such as PS secretion, even on exposure to high gold concentration (~0.2 mM) during relatively long periods of time (24-48 h).

The Effect of Size on Ag Nanosphere Toxicity in Macrophage Cell Models and Lung Epithelial Cell Lines Is Dependent on Particle Dissolution

“…Finally, this study’s results imply that there was a high degree of variability from one cell model to the next, and care must be exercised when choosing and interpreting the results from any one model. This is not unique to Ag as this has been reported with other ENM in similar cell models [23]. If possible, more than one cell model should be used to fully characterize any ENM biological impact.…”

Gold nanoparticle interactions with endothelial cells cultured under physiological conditions

“…6,11 In addition, in vitro studies by other groups generally showed only a slight effect of PEGylated AuNPs on various cell types (alveolar type II cells, macrophages, microglia). [29][30][31] However, the cell proliferation measured by the expression of the proliferation factor Ki-67 was inhibited to 60 % when the cells were exposed to 100 µg / mL PEGylated AuNPs for 24 hours (Figure 1 C). These data were supported by the determination of the cell number that was also reduced to 62 % compared to control cells under these conditions (Figure 1 D).…”

The cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles is dispersity-dependent

“…As a leading example, gold nanoparticles showed good biocompatibility in most cases and were considered to be a promising candidate in biomedical and preclinical applications. [23][24][25] Nonetheless, several investigations show considerable cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles. [26][27][28] Does the dispersity of nanoparticles make a difference here?…”