Abstract
Aim: To investigate the influence of gold nanoparticle geometry on the biochemical response of Calu-3 epithelial cells. Materials & methods: Spherical, triangular and hexagonal gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were used. The GNP-cell interaction was assessed via atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The biochemical impact of GNPs was determined over 72 h at (0.0001-1 mg/ml). Results: At 1 mg/ml, hexagonal GNPs reduced Calu-3 viability below 60%, showed increased reactive oxygen species production and higher expression of proapoptotic markers. A cell mass burden of 1:2:12 as well as number of GNPs per cell (2:1:3) was observed for spherical:triangular:hexagonal GNPs. Conclusion: These findings do not suggest a direct shape-toxicity effect. However, do highlight the contribution of shape towards the GNP-cell interaction which impacts upon their intracellular number, mass and volume dose.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2643-2657 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Nanomedicine |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 17 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sep 2015 |
Keywords
- biocompatibility
- caspases
- Cathepsin-B
- CD95 (APO-1/Fas)
- cell death
- gold nanoparticles
- lung epithelial cells
- nanoparticle shape
- nanotoxicology
- reactive oxygen species