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. 2020 Feb 27;21(5):1618.
doi: 10.3390/ijms21051618.

Evaluation of the Genotoxic and Oxidative Damage Potential of Silver Nanoparticles in Human NCM460 and HCT116 Cells

Mingxi Jia  1   2 , Wenjing Zhang  1 , Taojin He  1 , Meng Shu  1 , Jing Deng  1   2 , Jianhui Wang  3 , Wen Li  1   2 , Jie Bai  1 , Qinlu Lin  1 , Feijun Luo  1 , Wenhua Zhou  1 , Xiaoxi Zeng  2
Affiliations

Evaluation of the Genotoxic and Oxidative Damage Potential of Silver Nanoparticles in Human NCM460 and HCT116 Cells

Mingxi Jia et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Nano Ag has excellent antibacterial properties and is widely used in various antibacterial materials, such as antibacterial medicine and medical devices, food packaging materials and antibacterial textiles. Despite the many benefits of nano-Ag, more and more research indicates that it may have potential biotoxic effects. Studies have shown that people who ingest nanoparticles by mouth have the highest uptake in the intestinal tract, and that the colon area is the most vulnerable to damage and causes the disease. In this study, we examined the toxic effects of different concentrations of Ag-NPs on normal human colon cells (NCM460) and human colon cancer cells (HCT116). As the concentration of nanoparticles increased, the activity of the two colon cells decreased and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased. RT-qPCR and Western-blot analyses showed that Ag NPs can promote the increase in P38 protein phosphorylation levels in two colon cells and promote the expression of P53 and Bax. The analysis also showed that Ag NPs can promote the down-regulation of Bcl-2, leading to an increased Bax / Bcl-2 ratio and activation of P21, further accelerating cell death .This study showed that a low concentration of nano Ag has no obvious toxic effect on colon cells, while nano Ag with concentrations higher than 15 μg/mL will cause oxidative damage to colon cells.

Keywords: biological toxicity; colon cells; nano-Ag; oxidative damage.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Characterization of nano-Ag. (a) Transmission electron micrograph; (b) XRD pattern. (c) Granularity analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The morphology of two cells was observed after exposure to nano-Ag. (a) HCT116 cells; (b) NCM460 cells.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Nano-Ag cytotoxicity test. (a) MTT assay for cell viability; (b) Intracellular ROS content after exposure to nano Ag; (c) The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) content in the medium was measured to assess the integrity of the cell membrane.
Figure 4
Figure 4
RT-PCR Analysis of the Expression Changes in mRNA Level of P53, Bax, Bcl-2, P21 after exposure to Ag NPs for HCT116 and NCM460 cells. The experiment was in triplicate and data represent mean. * means p < 0.05; ** means p < 0.01.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Western-blot analysis of the expression changes in protein level of P53, Bax, Bcl-2, P21 after exposure to Ag NPs for HCT116 and NCM460 cells. (a) HCT116 cell protein expression result; (b) NCM460 cell protein expression result.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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