Surface coatings influence silver nanoparticle toxicity, new research suggests

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Surface coatings influence silver nanoparticle toxicity, new research suggests
Created by assoceditor on 13/01/2012 11:33:37

U.S. research study indicates that changing the coating on silver nanoparticles alters the toxicity to mouse cells.

To understand the toxicity of nanoparticles, most scientists have focused on the materials’ metal cores. But now researchers have shown that the chemicals that coat silver nanoparticle surfaces can change their toxicity, according to results published online this month in the Langmuir journal.

Known for their antibacterial properties, silver nanoparticles find use in medical devices, textiles, and other products. In 2010, Mitchel Doktycz of Oak Ridge National Laboratory that unlike other silver nanoparticles, those with fatty oleate coatings were not toxic to bacteria. Those results led Doktycz and his team to question whether chemical coatings could make particular nanoparticles more toxic to bacteria but less toxic to eukaryotic cells.

The researchers synthesised and purified silver nanoparticles with four different chemical surfaces. They then tested the particles' toxicity toward mouse cell lines from the lung and immune system and used microscopy to look for damage to the cells' membranes. Nanoparticles coated with an ammonium-containing polymer were the most toxic to cells, followed by those coated with proteins and oleates. Uncoated silver nanoparticles were shown to be the least toxic. Lung epithelial cells were less likely to die or experience membrane damage than macrophages were.

The results offer insights that may help materials scientists match nanoparticles and their coatings with applications, says Anil Suresh, first author of the study and now a staff scientist in molecular medicine at City of Hope, a cancer research center in Duarte, Calif.

Doktycz now wants to understand the details of how cells interact with these nanoparticles and their coatings, including how the cells might modify the surface chemicals.

Source: Chemical & Engineering News

Reference: Anil Kumar Suresh, Dale Pelletier, Wei Wang, Jennifer L Morrell-Falvey, Baohua Gu, and Mitchel J Doktycz. 2012, "Cytotoxicity Induced by Engineered Silver Nanocrystallites is Dependent on Surface Coatings and Cell Types," Langmuir [epub ahead of print].

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