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Citation
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HERO ID
90569
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Correlating nanoscale titania structure with toxicity: A cytotoxicity and inflammatory response study with human dermal fibroblasts and human lung epithelian cells
Author(s)
Sayes, CM; Wahi, R; Kurian, PA; Liu, Y; West, JL; Ausman, KD; Warheit, DB; Colvin, VL
Year
2006
Is Peer Reviewed?
1
Journal
Toxicological Sciences
ISSN:
1096-6080
EISSN:
1096-0929
Volume
92
Issue
1
Page Numbers
174-185
Language
English
PMID
16613837
DOI
10.1093/toxsci/kfj197
Web of Science Id
WOS:000238650400018
Abstract
Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) is an important material used in commerce today. When designed appropriately it can generate reactive species (RS) quite efficiently, particularly under ultraviolet (UV) illumination; this feature is exploited in applications ranging from self-cleaning glass to low-cost solar cells. In this study, we characterize the toxicity of this important class of nanomaterials under ambient (e.g., no significant light illumination) conditions in cell culture. Only at relatively high concentrations (100 Ág/ml) of nanoscale titania did we observe cytotoxicity and inflammation; these cellular responses exhibited classic dose-response behavior, and the effects increased with time of exposure. The extent to which nanoscale titania affected cellular behavior was not dependent on sample surface area in this study; smaller nanoparticlulate materials had effects comparable to larger nanoparticle materials. What did correlate strongly to cytotoxicity, however, was the phase composition of the nanoscale titania. Anatase TiO2, for example, was 100 times more toxic than an equivalent sample of rutile TiO2. The most cytotoxic nanoparticle samples were also the most effective at generating reactive oxygen species; ex vivo RS species generation under UV illumination correlated well with the observed biological response. These data suggest that nano-TiO2 samples optimized for RS production in photocatalysis are also more likely to generate damaging RS species in cell culture. The result highlights the important role that ex vivo measures of RS production can play in developing screens for cytotoxicity.
Keywords
Nanoscale titanium dioxide; titania; nano-TiO2 particles; cytotoxicity; inflammation mediators; photocatalysis; reactive oxygen species
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