title: Pluripotent stem cells: An in vitro model for nanotoxicity assessments.
abstract: The advent of technology has led to an established range of engineered nanoparticles that are used in diverse applications, such as cell-cell interactions, cell-material interactions, medical therapies and the target modulation of cellular processes. The exponential increase in the utilization of nanomaterials and the growing number of associated criticisms has highlighted the potential risks of nanomaterials to human health and the ecosystem. The existing in vivo and in vitro platforms show limitations, with fluctuations being observed in the results of toxicity assessments. Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are viable source of cells that are capable of developing into specialized cells of the human body. PSCs can be efficiently used to screen new biomaterials/drugs and are potential candidates for studying impairments of biophysical morphology at both the cellular and tissue levels during interactions with nanomaterials and for diagnosing toxicity. Three-dimensional in vitro models obtained using PSC-derived cells would provide a realistic, patient-specific platform for toxicity assessments and in drug screening applications. The current review focuses on PSCs as an alternative in vitro platform for assessing the hazardous effects of nanomaterials on health systems and highlights the importance of PSC-derived in vitro platforms. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Harish K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Handral
authors.affiliation: Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Huei Jinn
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Intekhab
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Experimental Dermatology Laboratory, Institute of Medical Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore.
authors.forename: Gopu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sriram
authors.affiliation: Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Vinicus
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.affiliation: Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore.|National University of Singapore, Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, Singapore.|Tissue Engineering Program, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000826:Animal Testing Alternatives; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D010316:Particle Size; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014116:Toxicology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances
keywords: Nanomaterials; human embryonic stem cells; in vitro pre-clinical platforms; induced pluripotent stem cells; nanotoxicity; stem cells; tissue-directed platforms