title: Toxicity of internalized laser generated pure silver nanoparticles to the isolated rat hippocampus cells.
abstract: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the most commonly used nanoparticles (NPs) in medicine, industry and cosmetics. They are generally considered as biocompatible. However, contradictory reports on their biosafety render them difficult to accept as 'safe'. In this study, we evaluated the neurotoxicity of direct AgNP treatment in rat hippocampal slices. We produced pure uncoated AgNPs by a pulsed laser ablation method. NP characterization was performed by Ultraviolet (UV) visible spectrophotometer, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Rat hippocampal slices were treated with AgNPs for an hour. AgNP exposure of hippocampal tissue resulted in a significant decrease in cell survival in a dose-dependent manner. Our TEM results showed that AgNPs were distributed in the extracellular matrix and were taken into the cytoplasm of the neurons. Moreover, we found that only larger AgNPs were taken into the neurons via phagocytosis. This study showed that the pure AgNPs produced by laser ablation are toxic to the neural tissue. We also found that neurons internalized only the large NPs by phagocytosis which seems to be the major mechanism in AgNP neurotoxicity.
authors.affiliation: 1 UNAM - National Nanotechnology Research Center, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.|2 Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kursungoz
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Medical Pharmacology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sadık Taşkın
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Taş
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Sargon
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Medical Pharmacology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yıldırım
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sara
authors.affiliation: 1 UNAM - National Nanotechnology Research Center, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.|2 Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bülend
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ortaç
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D010587:Phagocytosis; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012834:Silver / Q000633:toxicity*; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission
chemical_list: D012834:Silver
keywords: Laser ablation; classical endocytosis; hippocampus; internalization of nanoparticles; neurodegenerative disease; silver nanoparticles