title: Biocompatibility, uptake and endocytosis pathways of polystyrene nanoparticles in primary human renal epithelial cells.
abstract: Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of applications—such as drug delivery, nutraceuticals and production of improved biocompatible materials—in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are an important tool for the development of quite a few of these applications. Despite intense research activity, mechanisms regulating the uptake of NPs into cells are not completely defined, being the phenomenon dramatically influenced by physico-chemical properties of NPs and cell-specific differences. Since the cellular uptake of NPs is a prerequisite for their use in nanomedicine, the definition of their internalization pathway is crucial. For this reason, we used 44 nm polystyrene NPs as a model to analyze the uptake and endocytosis pathways in primary human renal cortical epithelial (HRCE) cells, which play a key role in the clearance of drugs. NPs were found not to affect the viability and cell cycle progression of HRCE cells. Distinct internalization pathways were analyzed by the use of drugs known to inhibit specific endocytosis routes. Analyses, performed by confocal microscopy in combination with quantitative spectrofluorimetric assays, indicated that NPs enter HRCE cells through multiple mechanisms, either energy-dependent (endocytosis) or energy-independent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi (INBB), Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daria Maria
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Monti
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Health Care@CRIB, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, and Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Biomaterials, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guarnieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Napolitano
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi (INBB), Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piccoli
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Health Care@CRIB, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, and Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Biomaterials, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Netti
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Health Care@CRIB, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, and Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Biomaterials, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Sabato
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fusco
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi (INBB), Rome, Italy. Electronic address: anarciel@unina.it.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arciello
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004355:Drug Stability; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000502:physiology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011137:Polystyrenes
keywords: Endocytosis; Human renal cortical epithelial cells; Nanomedicine; Polystyrene nanoparticles