Carcinogenesis, Teratogenesis & Mutagenesis ›› 2016, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (3): 195-199,204.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-616x.2016.03.007

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Differential toxicity of silver nanoparticles in human lung cancer and hapatoma cells

ZHANG Bangyong, LI Tingzhu, SUN Jindu, SHEN Nianqiu, ZHANG Ting, KONG Lu, XUE Yuying, TANG Meng   

  1. Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Southeast University, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2016-02-24 Revised:2016-04-27 Online:2016-05-31 Published:2016-05-31

Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To study the effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on proliferation and apoptosis of human lung cancer(A549) and hepatoma cells (HepG2). To discuss the potential reasons for different toxicity of AgNPs in the two cell lines. METHODS:A549 and HepG2 cells were treated with AgNPs at concentrations of 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640 μg/mL, respectively for 24 and 48 h. Control cultures did not receive treatment. Cell viability was measured by the MTT assay, and glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) detection kit were used to determine the level of GSH and SOD. In addition, some cultures were pretreated with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) prior to incubating with 160 μg/mL AgNPs. Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptotic rates for all cell culture groups. RESULTS:After 24 or 48 h of treatment with all dose groups, the survival rates of A549(except for 20 μg/mL group) and HepG2 cells were significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). However, the rates of HepG2 cells which were treated with 40-640 μg/mL AgNPs were significantly higher than that of A549 cells (P<0.05 or P<0.01). After 24 h of treatment, the SOD activity of A549 cells which were treated with 40 μg/mL AgNPs group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05), while the GSH levels of A549 cells which were treated with all dose groups were higher. After 48 h of treatment, SOD activity and GSH levels decreased in the 40-160 μg/mL treatment groups. After 24 or 48 h of treatment, SOD activity and GSH levels were increased in HepG2 cells. After 24 h of treatment, the apoptosis rates of HepG2 cells were significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while the apoptosis rate of A549 cells had not changed significantly (P>0.05). After 48 h of treatment, the apoptosis rate of A549 cells (except for 20 μg/mL group) and HepG2 cells (160 μg/mL group) were significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). However, the apoptosis rate of two cells was efficiently prevented by the use of NAC. CONCLUSION:AgNPs can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in A549 and HepG2 cells. The observed effects can be due to differential perturbation of intracellular GSH levels and SOD activity in the two cell lines.

Key words: silver nanoparticles, A549 cells, HepG2 cells, oxidative stress

CLC Number: