Abstract
Applying validated in vitro assays to the study of nanoparticle toxicity is a growing trend in nanomaterial risk assessment. Precise characterisation of reference nanomaterials and a well-regulated in vitro testing system are required to determine the physicochemical descriptors which dictate the toxic potential of nanoparticles. The use of automated, high-throughput technologies to facilitate the identification and prioritisation of nanomaterials which could pose a risk is desirable and developments are underway. In this study, two mammalian fibroblast lines (Balb/c 3T3 and COS-1 cells) were treated with a range of concentrations of iron oxide nanomaterials manufactured for use in medical diagnostics, using an automated platform and high-content-imaging endpoints for cell viability, oxidative stress and DNA damage (double-strand breaks). At the same time, the high-throughput comet assay was employed to measure DNA strand breaks and oxidised bases. Our results show that these methods provide a fast way to determine the toxicity of coated and uncoated iron oxide nanoparticles and, furthermore, to predict the mechanism of toxicity in vitro.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. D. Gilliland and G. Bories of the JRC-IHCP for very helpful discussions and for assistance during the HTS experiments. We acknowledge the support of the European Commission 7th Framework Programme for the NanoTEST project (Health-2007-1.3-4, Contract no: 201335). The work was also supported by EC FP7 QualityNano [INFRA-2010-1.131], Contract no: 214547-2, EC FP7 NANoREG, [NMP.2012.1.3-3], Contract no: 310584, and EC FP7 NanoTOES [PITN-GA-2010-264506].
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.