Probing Cytotoxicity of Gadolinium Hydroxide Nanostructures

Abstract

Gadolinium hydroxide, Gd(OH)(3), nanostructures were examined for their possible use in imaging and tracking of cells and tissues by investigating their cellular interactions and cytotoxic behaviors. For this purpose, Gd(OH)(3) nanorods (length, several hundred nanometers; diameter, approximately 40 nm) and spherical nanoparticles (average diameter, <10 nm) were synthesized by solvothermal decomposition of gadolinium containing molecular precursors. After comprehensive characterization of material properties, human colon adenocarcinoma (Caco2) and human lung epithelial (A549) cells were incubated with Gd(OH)(3) nanostructures in concentrations up to 900 microg/mL to perform cytotoxicity assays (BrdU (5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine), WST-1 (4-[3-(4-iodophenyl)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)-2H-5-tetrazolio]-1,3-benzol-disulfonate)) and living/dead staining. As observed in all in vitro assays, the investigated Gd(OH)(3) nanostructures do not induce any significant cytotoxic effect, making them promising candidates for a new class of contrast agents, which may overcome the limitations of organic stains such as photobleaching and single usage.

Application of Ceramic/Polymer Conjugate Materials for Near Infrared Biophotonics

“…Also, in case of bare RED-CNP without any surface modification, toxicity to macrophages is reported previously for the RED-CNP due to acidic condition in macrophages [7,18,20]. As shown in Figure 5, no obvious toxicity was detected for both of the liposome-encapsulated RED-CNP.…”

“…However, the use of the OTN-NIR for the imaging can potentially provide an observation depth with several centimeters. The authors group has been developing imaging systems and fluorescent imaging probes for the OTN-NIR fluorescence bioimaging [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Rare-earth doped ceramic nanophosphors (RED-CNP) are known to emit efficient NIR fluorescence under NIR excitation.…”

Rapid, microwave-assisted synthesis of Gd2O3and Eu:Gd2O3nanocrystals: characterization, magnetic, optical and biological studies

“…These observations are consistent with published reports on the cytotoxicity of Gd 2 O 3 nanocrystals. 12,20 Although there are many reports on the cytotoxicity of Gd 2 O 3 nanomaterials, 12,13,20,[39][40][41][42] the number of reports on their cell permeability is rather limited. However, cells may not show any cytotoxic behaviour if these nanocrystals remain in the cell culture medium rather than entering the cells.…”

Bifunctional Luminomagnetic Rare-Earth Nanorods for High-Contrast Bioimaging Nanoprobes

“…Rare earth-doped inorganic nanoparticles maintain a photoluminescence (PL) characterized by high photochemical stability, sharp emission bands, long luminescence lifetime, lower photobleaching potential, low toxicity, and high chemical stability, suitable for biolabeling applications341011. With the exception of La 3+ and Lu 3+ , all trivalent lanthanide ions possess unpaired electrons resulting in paramagnetic behavior, among which gadolinium containing compounds are preferred as contrasting agents in medical diagnostics due to the high magnetic moment of Gd412131415. Recently for bio-applications including investigations, metal oxide nanoparticles such as TiO 2 , ZnO, Fe 3 O 4 , carbon based structures such as carbon black and carbon nanotubes, graphene quantum dots as well as plasmonic metal nanoparticle (gold, silver or aluminum) have been studied281617181920.…”

“…Besides size, morphology also plays an important role in bioimaging application of nanomaterials. For instance, one dimensional structure such as nanowires and nanorods with several hundred nanometers in length and few tenths of nanometer in diameter may interact with cells in a different manner than isotropic nanoparticles1525. While particles may cross the cell membrane if their size is small enough, nanorods and nanowires fulfill this requirement at least in one dimension (length too large to be completely taken by the cell).…”