As applications for nanomaterials have rapidly expanded into several areas, including engineering, biomedical research, imaging diagnostics, and disease therapeutics, there has been an increase in occupational exposure to these nanoparticles and a need has developed to determine their toxicity. Because the mode of action of nanoparticle toxicity is still unclear, there is uncertainty in the advancement of proper occupational safety standards. On a cellular level, it has been suggested that the size, shape, and surface chemistry of nanoparticles dictate the extent of nanoparticle endocytosis and cytotoxicity, shown as disturbances in cellular signaling, metabolism, and motility. On a molecular level, it has been suggested that nanoparticles can bind proteins, lipids, and DNA, inhibiting their normal metabolic function. Additionally, nanoparticles can be degraded within the endolysosomal compartment of cells and the products can induce cytotoxicity. Even so, there is still debate as to the most accurate and consistent measures of cellular nanotoxicity. Here we report on the cellular toxicity of commercially available CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles with consideration for the size and surface chemistry using three different cell lines.  Cell viability, fluorescence microscopy, a Western blot immunoassay, and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry were utilized to monitor toxicity.

Toxicity measurements of CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles

247th National Meeting (2014)

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