title: Online monitoring of cell metabolism to assess the toxicity of nanoparticles: the case of cobalt ferrite.
abstract: Different in vitro assays are successfully used to determine the relative cytotoxicity of a broad range of compounds. Nevertheless, different research groups have pointed out the difficulty in using the same tests to assess the toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs). In this study, we evaluated the possible use of a microphysiometer, Bionas 2500 analyzing system Bionas GmbH®, to detect in real time changes in cell metabolisms linked to NPs exposure. We focused our work on response changes of fibroblast cultures linked to exposure by cobalt ferrite NPs and compared the results to conventional in vitro assays. The measurements with the microphysiometer showed a cobalt ferrite cytotoxic effect, confirmed by the Colony Forming Efficiency assay. In conclusion, this work demonstrated that the measurement of metabolic parameters with a microphysiometer is a promising method to assess the toxicity of NPs and offers the advantage to follow on-line the cell metabolic changes.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Nanobiosciences Unit, Ispra (VA), Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ponti
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giudetti
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Broggi
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marmorato
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gioria
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Franchini
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rauscher
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rossi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D041702:BALB 3T3 Cells; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D015687:Cell Hypoxia / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D003470:Culture Media; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000187:drug effects; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; C001215:ferrite; D003035:Cobalt