title: Zerovalent Fe, Co and Ni nanoparticle toxicity evaluated on SKOV-3 and U87 cell lines.
abstract: We have considered nanoparticles (NPs) of Fe, Co and Ni, three transition metals sharing similar chemical properties. NP dissolution, conducted by radioactive tracer method and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, indicated that NiNPs and FeNPs released in the medium a much smaller amount of ions than that released by Co NPs. The two considered methodological approaches, however, gave comparable but not identical results. All NPs are readily internalized by the cells, but their quantity inside the cells is less than 5%. Cytotoxicity and gene expression experiments were performed on SKOV-3 and U87 cells. In both cell lines, CoNPs and NiNPs were definitely more toxic than FeNPs. Real-time polymerase chain reaction experiments aimed to evaluate modifications of the expression of genes involved in the cellular stress response (HSP70, MT2A), or susceptible to metal exposure (SDHB1 and MLL), or involved in specific cellular processes (caspase3, IQSEC1 and VMP1), gave different response patterns in the two cell lines. HSP70, for example, was highly upregulated by CoNPs and NiNPs, but only in SKOV-3 cell lines. Overall, this work underlines the difficulties in predicting NP toxicological properties based only on their chemical characteristics. We, consequently, think that, at this stage of our knowledge, biological effects induced by metal-based NPs should be examined on a case-by-case basis following studies on different in vitro models. Moreover, with the only exception of U87 exposed to Ni, our results suggest that metallic NPs have caused, on gene expression, similar effects to those caused by their corresponding ions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.|Interuniversity Center 'The Protein Factory', Politecnico di Milano, ICRM-CNR Milano and Università dell'Insubria, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gornati
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pedretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cappellini
authors.affiliation: Venetonanotech, ECSIN, Rovigo, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanella
authors.affiliation: Venetonanotech, ECSIN, Rovigo, Italy.
authors.forename: Iolanda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Olivato
authors.affiliation: Venetonanotech, ECSIN, Rovigo, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sabbioni
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.|Interuniversity Center 'The Protein Factory', Politecnico di Milano, ICRM-CNR Milano and Università dell'Insubria, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bernardini
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D010316:Particle Size; D012995:Solubility; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003035:Cobalt; D009532:Nickel; D007501:Iron
keywords: Nanoparticles; cytotoxicity; dissolution; gene expression; uptake