Genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in HEp-2 cells.

Aims: The rapidly growing industrial and medical use of nanomaterials, especially zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, has led to growing concerns about their toxicity. Accordingly, the intrinsic genotoxic and cytotoxic potential of these nanoparticles have been evaluated. Materials & methods: Using a HEp-2 cell line, cytotoxicity was tested along with mitochondrial activity and neutral red uptake assays. The genotoxic potential was determined using the Comet and the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assays. In addition,tyrosine phosphorylation events were investigated. Results & conclusion: We found concentration- and time-dependent cytotoxicity and an increase in DNA and cytogenetic damage with increasing nanoparticle concentrations. Mainly for zinc oxide, genotoxicity was clearly associated with an increase in tyrosine phosphorylation. Our results suggest that both types of nanoparticles can be genotoxic over a range of concentrations without being cytotoxic.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4776

Version

Accepted manuscript

Citation

Osman, I. F., Baumgartner, A., Cemeli, E., Fletcher, J. N. and Anderson, D. (2010). Genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in HEp-2 cells. Nanomedicine. Vol. 5, No. 8, pp. 1193¿1203.

Link to Version of Record

https://doi.org/10.2217/nnm.10.52

Type

Article