engleski

Genotoxicity of silver and selenium nanoparticles on human epithelial cells

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are among the most commercialized engineered nano-particles (NPs) due to their excellent biocidal properties [1]. Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) represent promising candidates in biomedicine as they are antioxidatively active and biodegradable and biocompatible at the same time. [2]. There is a plethora of in vitro studies on cellular effects of different types of AgNPs, while data on SeNPs are still scarce. This study aimed at investigating genotoxic effects of different AgNPs and SeNPs on human epithelial cells. For this purpose, AgNPs and SeNPs were prepared and their surface was functionalized with neutral polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or positively charged poly-L-lysine (PLL) as stabilizing agents. The produced NPs were carefully characterized using light scattering technique and transmission electron microscopy. Genotoxic effects were determined in vitro on human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and human buccal epithelial cells (TR146) using the alkaline Comet assay. The AgNPs and SeNPs showed a size of 10 nm and 50 nm respectively, were spherically shaped and colloidal stable in water as well as in cell culture medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum. The Comet assay examined that AgNPs and SeNPs induced DNA damage at concentrations of 5 ppm and higher. Both AgNPs and SeNPs treatments increased the tail intensity and tail lenght values compared to control cells. NPs coated with the positively charged PLL induced significantly higher genotoxicity on HaCaT and TR146 than neutral PVP coated NPs. Buccal epithelial cells showed higher sensitivity to NPs compared to human keratinocytes. This study demonstrates the importance of in vitro testing in assessing the impact of NPs on human health.

genotoxicity ; nanoparticles ; epithelial cells ; biological barriers

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