Abstract
Silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) are commonly used in medical and pharmaceutical fields. Research into the cytotoxicity and overall proteomic changes occurring during initial exposure to SiO2 NPs is limited. We investigated the mechanism of toxicity in human liver cells according to exposure time [0, 4, 10, and 16 h (h)] to SiO2 NPs through proteomic analysis using mass spectrometry. SiO2 NP-induced cytotoxicity through various pathways in HepG2 cells. Interestingly, when cells were exposed to SiO2 NPs for 4 h, the morphology of the cells remained intact, while the expression of proteins involved in mRNA splicing, cell cycle, and mitochondrial function was significantly downregulated. These results show that the toxicity of the nanoparticles affects protein expression even if there is no change in cell morphology at the beginning of exposure to SiO2 NPs. The levels of reactive oxygen species changed significantly after 10 h of exposure to SiO2 NPs, and the expression of proteins associated with oxidative phosphorylation, as well as the immune system, was upregulated. Eventually, these changes in protein expression induced HepG2 cell death. This study provides insights into cytotoxicity evaluation at early stages of exposure to SiO2 NPs through in vitro experiments.
Highlights
Published: 2 March 2021Silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) are popular materials used in drug delivery and various bio-applications due to their excellent bio-stability, easy surface modification, and ability for fluorescent tagging [1,2,3]
We demonstrated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by SiO2 NP-induced cellular responses in HepG2 cells such as oxidative phosphorylation and immune system
In this study, ROS was found to increase 10 h after exposure to SiO2 NPs. These results suggest that the downregulation of proteins associated with mRNA splicing and ribosomes within 4 h in HepG2 cells could be attributed to DNA damage caused by SiO2 NPs directly, not ROS
Summary
Published: 2 March 2021Silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) are popular materials used in drug delivery and various bio-applications due to their excellent bio-stability, easy surface modification, and ability for fluorescent tagging [1,2,3]. The enhanced potential for human exposure to engineered SiO2. Increasing exposure concerns in the industrial sector have raised global concerns about the safety and potential health impacts of SiO2 NPs. According to the Nanomaterials Health Implications Research (NHIR). The physicochemical properties of nanoparticles, which were overlooked at the beginning of their toxicity studies, are likely to influence toxicity results. Physicochemical properties, such as particle size and size distribution, agglomeration state, shape, crystal structure, chemical composition, and surface area, could affect the cell and animal responses [7,8]. The smaller size of nanoparticles and Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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