Toxicity evaluation of boron nitride nanospheres and water-soluble boron nitride in <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em>

Abstract

Boron nitride (BN) nanomaterials have been increasingly explored for potential biological applications. However, their toxicity remains poorly understood. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a whole-animal model for toxicity analysis of two representative types of BN nanomaterials – BN nanospheres (BNNSs) and highly water-soluble BN nanomaterial (named BN-800-2) – we found that BNNSs overall toxicity was less than soluble BN-800-2 with irregular shapes. The concentration thresholds for BNNSs and BN-800-2 were 100 µg·mL −1 and 10 µg·mL −1 , respectively. Above this concentration, both delayed growth, decreased life span, reduced progeny, retarded locomotion behavior, and changed the expression of phenotype-related genes to various extents. BNNSs and BN-800-2 increased oxidative stress levels in C. elegans by promoting reactive oxygen species production. Our results further showed that oxidative stress response and MAPK signaling-related genes, such as GAS1 , SOD2 , SOD3 , MEK1 , and PMK1 , might be key factors for reactive oxygen species production and toxic responses to BNNSs and BN-800-2 exposure. Together, our results suggest that when concentrations are lower than 10 µg·mL −1 , BNNSs are more biocompatible than BN-800-2 and are potentially biocompatible material.

Polymer-Coated Nanoparticles for Therapeutic and Diagnostic Non-10B Enriched Polymer-Coated Boron Carbon Oxynitride (BCNO) Nanoparticles as Potent BNCT Drug

“…After 72 h of incubation, the half-maximal inhibitor concentrations (IC50) of the bare BCNO, PEG@BCNO, and PEI@BNCO were determined to be 0.1 mg/mL, 0.3 mg/mL, and 0.05 mg/mL, respectively. (Figure 6a-c) As anticipated, the bare BCNO nanoparticle exhibited higher cytotoxicity than PEG@BCNO because of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on the surface of the BCNO nanoparticles, which resulted in oxidative stress of the cells [51,94,95]. Conversely, the positively charged PEI@BCNO exhibited the highest cytotoxicity among the three BCNO samples investigated in this study, because of the cationic PEI ligand's ability to induce apoptosis and cell necrosis in the targeted ALTS1C1 cell [96,97].…”

hBN Nanoparticle-Assisted Rapid Thermal Cycling for the Detection of Acanthamoeba

“…Nanoparticles have high thermal conductivity to enhance PCR specificity and DNA yield [ 7 ]. hBN nanoparticle is thermally stable with high thermal conductivity theoretical value of 600–1000 W m −1 K −1 [ 13 ]. Interestingly, in our study, hBN nanoparticle of 1 × 10 −4 wt % optimum concentration resulted in a ~2.0-fold increase of Acanthamoeba PCR yield at a low annealing temperature of 46.2 °C ( Figure 5 B).…”

“…hBN compound is inert and does not oxidize in air up to 900 °C. It possesses high thermal conductivity and is non-toxic in the environment [ 13 ], making it highly suitable as a nanoparticle to enhance PCR efficiency.…”

Hexagonal Boron Nitride Functionalized with Au Nanoparticles—Properties and Potential Biological Applications

“…Results obtained in different experiments in vitro were confirmed in vivo. The in vivo effect of boron nitride nanomaterial was investigated by Ciofani et al, Wang et al, Liu et al [ 55 , 56 , 57 ]. The boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) in aqueous solution were stabilized with polymer—glycol chitosan (G-chitosan) at a 1:1 ratio.…”