title: Parallel comparative studies on the toxic effects of unmodified CdTe quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, and carbon nanodots on live cells as well as green gram sprouts.
abstract: By using confocal fluorescence microscopy and direct visualization, a parallel comparative investigation has been systematically made on the relative toxicity of three common nanomaterials, such as unmodified CdTe quantum dots (QDs), Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) and carbon nanodots (C-dots), to live cells as well as green gram sprouts. Bare CdTe QDs exert the most toxic effect on a variety of cell lines (HeLa, MCF-7, NIH/3T3 cells) as well as live plants (green gram sprouts). For cells, this toxic effect leads to the partial death of cells, the decrease of cell metabolic activity, the shrinkage of cells, the breakage of chromatin, the damage of cell membrane integrity, and the fragmentation of mitochondria; for green gram sprouts, the presence of CdTe QDs markedly inhibits their growth. Moreover, the toxic behaviors of CdTe QDs are dose- and time-dependent. Under the same conditions, Au NPs only decrease the metabolic activity of cells to a small extent, and do not affect the appearance of cellular/subcellular structures and the plant growth; interestingly, C-dots exert no obvious toxicity to both live cells and the growth of green gram sprouts, showing good biocompatibility. These parallel comparative studies clearly reveal that the relative toxicity of the three nanomaterials in their native forms is bare CdTe QDs>>Au NPs>C-dots, whose IC50 values for normal NIH/3T3 cells are 0.98 μg/mL, 62 μg/mL, and >250 μg/mL, respectively. This quantitative information is of great importance for right choice of the nanomaterials in their practical applications.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Yanchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Duan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Huimin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000737:chemistry; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D054118:Nanospheres / Q000633:toxicity*; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000633:toxicity*; D013691:Tellurium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium; D002244:Carbon; D006046:Gold; D013691:Tellurium
keywords: Au nanoparticles; Carbon nanodots; CdTe quantum dots; Fluorescence imaging; Live cells; Relative toxicity