Oxidative Stress Induced by CuO Nanoparticles (CuO NPs) to Human Hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) Cells

Abstract

The toxicity of CuO nanoparticles (CuO NPs) to human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cells was inves-tigated in this study. CuO NPs (1 -40 mg/L) had significant toxicity to HepG2 cells. The antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) significantly reduces the cytotoxicity induced by the CuO NPs, support-ing the hypothesis that oxidative stress contributes to the cytotoxicity of CuO NPs. To further ex-plore the oxidative mechanisms of cytotoxicity, we examined CuO NPs-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HepG2 cells. CuO NPs generated intracellular ROS in HepG2 cells in a concentration-dependent manner.