Effects of Nano-CeO 2 with Different Nanocrystal Morphologies on Cytotoxicity in HepG2 Cells

Lili Wang, Wenchao Ai, Yanwu Zhai, Haishan Li, Kebin Zhou and Huiming Chen
Additional contact information
Lili Wang: Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing 100123, China
Wenchao Ai: Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing 100123, China
Yanwu Zhai: Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
Haishan Li: Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing 100123, China
Kebin Zhou: Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
Huiming Chen: Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing 100123, China

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: Cerium oxide nanoparticles (nano-CeO 2 ) have been reported to cause damage and apoptosis in human primary hepatocytes. Here, we compared the toxicity of three types of nano-CeO 2 with different nanocrystal morphologies (cube-, octahedron-, and rod-like crystals) in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2). The cells were treated with the nano-CeO 2 at various concentrations (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100 ?g/mL). The crystal structure, size and morphology of nano-CeO 2 were investigated by X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. The specific surface area was detected using the Brunauer, Emmet and Teller method. The cellular morphological and internal structure were observed by microscopy; apoptotic alterations were measured using flow cytometry; nuclear DNA, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) in HepG2 cells were measured using high content screening technology. The scavenging ability of hydroxyl free radicals and the redox properties of the nano-CeO 2 were measured by square-wave voltammetry and temperature-programmed-reduction methods. All three types of nano-CeO 2 entered the HepG2 cells, localized in the lysosome and cytoplasm, altered cellular shape, and caused cytotoxicity. The nano-CeO 2 with smaller specific surface areas induced more apoptosis, caused an increase in MMP, ROS and GSH, and lowered the cell’s ability to scavenge hydroxyl free radicals and antioxidants. In this work, our data demonstrated that compared with cube-like and octahedron-like nano-CeO 2 , the rod-like nano-CeO 2 has lowest toxicity to HepG2 cells owing to its larger specific surface areas.

Keywords: nano-CeO 2; cytotoxicity; apoptosis; MMP; ROS; GSH; antioxidant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/9/10806/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/9/10806/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:9:p:10806-10819:d:55162

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().