Assessment of the geno- and cytotoxic action of colloidal gold nanoparticles on the bone marrow erythroid cell lines and tumors in animals with Ehrlich ascites carcinoma

Abstract

The article discusses the study of geno- and cytotoxic effects of 5 nm-sized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) administered to mice at the concentrations of 30 and 60 μg/kg of animals’ body weight on the erythroid lineage cells from the bone marrow (BM) and tumor cells of mice with Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC). In parallel, these animals were tested for changes in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential of tumor cells due to the action at selected concentrations of GNPs. The micronucleus test was used as a marker for the genotoxic effect, while the mitochondrial fluorescent JC-1 probe was employed for the evaluation of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential. A reliable decrease in the polychromatophils to normochromatophils ratio in the bone marrow of animals against the background of a simultaneous increase in the amount of micronuclei (MN) was shown only 48 hours after the administration of GNPs at the concentration of 30 μg/kg. It has been shown that the most essential geno- and cytotoxic effects on the BM erythrocytes were produced by GNPs at the concentration of 60 μg/kg, and the most expressed effect is observed with the continuation of exposure. In addition, changes in the stability of the genome and the mitochondrial transmembrane potential in the tumor cells of the animals with EAC is due to the effect of GNPs at the concentrations of 30 and 60 μg/kg. The most reliable increases in the amount of MN against simultaneous decreases in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential were observed when GNPs were used at the concentration of 60 μg/kg, and their further increases were marked when their action was continued. The obtained data indicate that 5-nm-sized GNPs cause in an in vivo system geno- and cytotoxic effects in both tumor cells and BM erythroid cell lines, and, therefore, this factor is not safe for medico-biological applications at high concentrations and a prolonged action.