The impact of UVB exposure and differentiation state of primary keratinocytes on their interaction with quantum dots

Abstract

In this study we utilised an in vitro model system to gain insight into the potential cellular interactions that quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles may experience while transiting the viable skin epidermis, and we consider the effects of UVB exposure. UVB skin exposure is known to induce a skin barrier defect that facilitates QD stratum corneum penetration. Primary human keratinocytes were cultured in low and high calcium to induce basal and differentiated phenotypes, respectively. Results suggest that differentiation state plays a role in keratinocyte response to UVB exposure and exposure to negatively charged CdSe/ZnS core/shell QD. QD cell uptake increased with QD dose but association with differentiated cells was significantly lower than the basal keratinocyte phenotype. Differentiated keratinocytes were also less sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of UVB exposure. We did not observe an effect of UVB preexposure on QD cytotoxicity level despite the fact that fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry data suggest that UVB may slightly increase QD uptake in the basal cell phenotype. The implications of these findings for assessing potential risk of human skin exposure are discussed.

Keywords::

• quantum dots
• UVB
• primary keratinocytes
• differentiation
• nanotoxicology

Acknowledgements

All flow cytometry experiments were executed at the University of Rochester Medical Center Flow Core, which is headed by Dr. Timothy Bushnell. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (CBET 0837891), the National Institute of Health (NIDA K25AI060884) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R21OH009970).