title: Toxicity assessments of near-infrared upconversion luminescent LaF3:Yb,Er in early development of zebrafish embryos.
abstract: This study reports the effects of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) LaF3:Yb,Er on zebrafish, with the aim of investigating UCNPs toxicity. LaF3:Yb,Er were prepared by an oleic acid/ionic liquid two-phase system, and characterized by transmission electron microscope and X-ray powder diffraction. 140 zebrafish embryos were divided into six test groups and one control group, and respectively were injected into 5, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 μg/mL LaF3:Yb,Er@SiO2 solution, and respectively were raised for 5 days. Each experiment was repeated ten times. Results showed that water-soluble LaF3:Yb,Er were successfully prepared, and did not exhibit obvious toxicity to zebrafish embryos under 100 μg/mL, but exhibited chronic toxicities 200 μg/mL in vivo, resulting in malformations and delayed hatching rate and embryonic and larval development. The excretion channels of LaF3:Yb,Er in adult zebrafish were mainly found in the intestine after being injected evenly for 24 h. In conclusion, the exploration of LaF3:Yb,Er for in vivo applications in animals and humans must consider UCNPs biocompatibility.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Thin Film and Microfabrication of Ministry of Education, Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, PR China.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jiebing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.forename: Yuxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Baoquan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Daxiang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D007422:Intestines / Q000187:drug effects; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D049449:Luminescence; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D015027:Zebrafish
keywords: Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs); biocompatibility; toxicity; zebrafish embryo.