Abstract
Demand for silver engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) is increasing rapidly in optoelectronic and in health and medical applications due to their antibacterial, thermal, electrical conductive, and other properties. The continued commercial up-scaling of ENM production and application needs to be accompanied by an understanding of the occupational health, public safety and environmental implications of these materials. There have been numerous in vitro studies and some in vivo studies of ENM toxicity but their results are frequently inconclusive. Some of the variability between studies has arisen due to a lack of consistency between experimental models, since small differences between test materials can markedly alter their behaviour. In addition, the propensity for the physicochemistry of silver ENMs to alter, sometimes quite radically, depending on the environment they encounter, can profoundly alter their bioreactivity. Consequently, it is important to accurately characterise the materials before use, at the point of exposure and at the nanomaterial-tissue, or “nanobio”, interface, to be able to appreciate their environmental impact. This paper reviews current literature on the pulmonary effects of silver nanomaterials. We focus our review on describing whether, and by which mechanisms, the chemistry and structure of these materials can be linked to their bioreactivity in the respiratory system. In particular, the mechanisms by which the physicochemical properties (e.g., aggregation state, morphology and chemistry) of silver nanomaterials change in various biological milieu (i.e., relevant proteins, lipids and other molecules, and biofluids, such as lung surfactant) and affect subsequent interactions with and within cells will be discussed, in the context not only of what is measured but also of what can be visualized.
Highlights
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are a class of metallic particles with at least one dimension less than 100 nanometres
Several in vitro systems exist, providing some mechanistic understanding of AgNP toxicity, these systems will have to be optimized in the future to simulate better the in vivo situation and provide a holistic understanding of the “bionano”
They have demonstrated that cultured epithelial cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells can cooperate in NP trafficking
Summary
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are a class of metallic particles with at least one dimension less than 100 nanometres. The increase in the number of products containing silver nanomaterials has led to growing concerns about the potential adverse effects on human health upon exposure to Ag nanomaterials. Several studies have linked the toxicity of AgNPs to their dissolution and the release of free Ag+ ions [20]. Further efforts are required to understand the stability of AgNPs and the kinetics of Ag+ ion release in biological environments. AgNPs are highly dynamic and their properties can change drastically when incubated in biological media, leading for example to aggregation or the formation of biomolecule coronas (Figure 1). The focus should be placed on developing new metrology methods that will be able to link the existing discrepancies between the effects of AgNPs and Ag+ ions. The development of new methods for the quantification of Ag+ ions released intracellularly will prove invaluable in discriminating between the effects of AgNPs and Ag+ ions
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