Abstract
Metal-based nanoparticles (NPs), are currently used in many application fields including consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and biomedical treatments. In spite to their wide applications, an in-depth study of their potential toxic effects is still lacking. The aim of the present research was to investigate the potential initiator or promoter-like activity of different metallic NPs such as gold, iron, cobalt, and cerium using the Balb/3T3 two-stage transformation assay. The results indicated that all the selected metallic NPs, except for cobalt, when used as initiators did not induce any transformation in Balb/3T3 cell line. Moreover, Au and Fe3 O4 NPs, when used in place of the tumor promoter treatment TPA, increased significantly the number of Foci/dish as compared to the MCA treatment alone. The number of Foci/dish was 2.6 for Au NPs and 2.13 for Fe3 O4 ones, similar to those obtained by the positive control treatment (MCA + TPA), whereas 1.27 for MCA treatment alone. On the contrary, CeO2 NPs did not show any difference in the number of Foci/dish, as compared to MCA alone, but it decreased the number of foci by 65% in comparison to the positive control (MCA + TPA). As expected, cobalt NPs showed an increased cytotoxicity and only a few surviving cells were found at the time of analysis showing a number of Foci/dish of 0.13. For the first time, our data clearly showed that Au and Fe3 O4 NPs act as promoters in the two stage transformational assay, suggesting the importance to fully investigate the NPs carcinogenic potential with different models.
Highlights
In recent years, much attention has been paid to nanotechnology and its new wide range of potential applications
The NPs characterization was performed using a combination of STEM, TEM, Dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Zeta-potential techniques
In recent years the use of metallic NPs has been widely used in many different fields, such as the medical-pharmaceutical industry
Summary
Much attention has been paid to nanotechnology and its new wide range of potential applications. Metal-based NPs such as gold, iron, cobalt, and cerium, thanks to their variety and characteristics, are already being used in several application fields including consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and biomedical treatments (Nohynek et al, 2007, Wang et al, 2008). VC 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Gold NPs are already being tested as a drug delivery carrier (Chen et al, 2008, Boisselier and Astruc, 2009) to cure leukaemias and autoimmune diseases (i.e., rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus). Super-paramagnetic Iron Oxide NPs (Fe3O4, SPION) are being tested as enhancers of contrast in nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, as drug delivery carriers and even as a multifunctional platform for the inhibition of bacteria biofilm during the infection process (Petri-Fink and Hofmann, 2007; Ravizzini et al, 2009; Burtea et al, 2011; Durmus et al, 2013). The unique property of cerium NPs is represented by the ability to exceed all traditional antioxidants and to exert radio
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