In Vitro Toxicity of PEI-Coated Fe_3O_4 Nanoparticles in HaCaT Cells

摘要

Fe_3O_4 based nanoparticles are widely used in biomedical applications, including magnetic resonance imaging, drug delivery, and hyperthermia. However, their properties conducive to clinic use may potentially induce toxicity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the cytotoxicity of PEI-coated Fe_3O_4 nanoparticles on HaCaT immortalized human keratinocyte cells. Nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Then HaCaT cells were incubated with the nanoparticles at 0, 2, 20 or 200 ng/ml for 24 h, multiple assays had been adopted to analyze the cell toxicity subsequently, including Prussian blue staining, CCK-8 assay, cell cycle analysis and LDH release assay. In the results, the PEI-coated Fe_3O_4 nanoparticles were almost uniform and their size was 12 ±7 nm. The nanoparticles at more than 2 ng/ml were sufficient for labeling HaCaT cells and cellular uptake was dose-dependent. The results showed that when the HaCaT cells were incubated with over 20 ng/ml PEI-coated Fe_3O_4 nanoparticles, the cell viabilities showed a significant reduction, the cell population in S phase decreased and the nanoparticles induced significant LDH release. Moreover, these manners were dose-dependent. In summary, exposure to PEI-coated Fe_3O_4 nanoparticles at above 20 ng/ml resulted in a dose-dependent cytotoxicity in HaCaT cells.