Micromorphological cellular responses of MC3T3-E1 and RAW264.7 after exposure to water-dispersible silver nanoparticles stabilized by metal-carbon σ-bonds

Abstract

With the continuous progress in nanomaterial development for biomedicine, the potential cytotoxicity of nanoparticles is drawing more attention and concern for clinical applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate biological responses of new water-dispersible silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) stabilized by Ag-C σ-bonds in cultured murine macrophages (RAW264.7) and osteoblast-like cells (MC3T3-E1) using cell viability and morphological analyses. For RAW264.7, Ag-NPs seemed to induce cytotoxicity that was dependent on the Ag-NP concentration. However, no cytotoxic effects were observed in the MC3T3-E1 cell line. In microscopic analysis, Ag-NPs were taken up by MC3T3-E1 cells with only minor cell morphological changes, in contrast to RAW264.7 cells, in which particles aggregated in the cytoplasm and vesicles. The ability of endocytosis of macrophages may induce harmful effects due to expansion of cell vesicles compared to osteoblast-like cells with their lower uptake of Ag-NPs.