title: Embryotoxicity of cobalt ferrite and gold nanoparticles: a first in vitro approach.
abstract: Nanoparticles (NPs) are emerging as promising biomedical tools thanks to their peculiar characteristics. Our purpose was to investigate the embryotoxicity of cobalt ferrite and gold NPs through the Embryonic Stem Cell Test (EST). The EST is an in vitro standard assay, which permits to classify substances as strongly, weakly or non-embryotoxic. Due to the particular physical-chemical nature of nanoparticles, we introduced a modification to the standard protocol exposing the Embryonic Stem Cells (ES-D3) to nanoparticles only during the first 5 days of the assay. Moreover, we proposed a method to discriminate and compare the embryotoxicity of the substances within the weakly embryotoxic range. Our ID(50) results permit to classify cobalt ferrite nanoparticles coated with gold and silanes as non-embryotoxic. The remaining nanoparticles have been classified as weakly embryotoxic in this decreasing order: gold salt (HAuCl(4).3H(2)O)>cobalt ferrite salt (CoFe(2)O(4))>cobalt ferrite nanoparticles coated with silanes (Si-CoFe)>gold nanoparticles coated with hyaluronic acid (HA-Au).
authors.affiliation: UTOX-PCB, Unit of Experimental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology, Parc Científic Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. claudia.di.gugliellmo@gmail.com
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Guglielmo
authors.forename: David Ramos
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Lapuente
authors.forename: Joan Maria Llobet
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mallafre
authors.forename: Miquel Borràs
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Suàrez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D041702:BALB 3T3 Cells; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D012821:Silanes / Q000737:chemistry; D013723:Teratogens / Q000145:classification / Q000633:toxicity*; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D012821:Silanes; D013723:Teratogens; C001215:ferrite; D003035:Cobalt; D006046:Gold; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid