title: In vitro evaluation of the cellular effect of indium tin oxide nanoparticles using the human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells.
abstract: Indium tin oxide (ITO) is widely used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or plasma and mobile phone displays. Elevated production and usage of ITO in such displays have led to increased concerns over the safety of industrial workers exposed to particulate aerosols produced during cutting, grinding and polishing of these materials. However, the cellular effects of ITO nanoparticles (NPs) are still unclear, although it has been reported that micro-scale ITO particles induce cytotoxicity. The aim of this study was to examine the potential of ITO NPs to induce cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, and DNA damage using human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Here, stable dispersions of a medium containing ITO NPs were obtained using pre-adsorption and centrifugal fractionation methods, and the A549 cells were incubated in this medium. The ITO NPs showed low cytotoxic effects as shown by the WST-1 and LDH assays. Transmission electron microscopy observations showed the cellular uptake of ITO NPs. The ITO NPs increased the intracellular level of reactive oxygen species and the expression of the heme oxygenase 1 gene. Further, the results of alkaline comet assays showed that ITO NPs induced DNA damage. Thus, these results suggest that ITO NPs possess a genotoxic potential on human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells.
authors.affiliation: Health Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2217-14 Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu, Kagawa 761-0395, Japan. y-tabei@aist.go.jp.
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tabei
authors.forename: Akinari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sonoda
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Vasudevanpillai
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Biju
authors.forename: Yoji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Makita
authors.forename: Yasukazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horie
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000077192:Adenocarcinoma of Lung; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D017971:Tin Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D017971:Tin Compounds; C109984:indium tin oxide