Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

In Vitro Toxicological Assessment of Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles in Several Mammalian Cell Types

  • Published:
Biological Trace Element Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nanoparticles have been widely used in various fields due to the superior physicochemical properties and functions. As a result, human exposure to nanoparticles increases dramatically. Previous researches have shown that nanoparticles could travel through the respiratory, digestive system, or skin into the blood and then to the secondary organs such as the brain, heart, and liver. Besides, the nanoparticle toxicity is controversial and dependent on the sensitivity of the cell type, route of exposure, and condition, as well as their characteristics. Similarly, cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CoFe2O4-NPs) have been used in different industrial fields, and have also various application possibilities in medical and biomedical fields. CoFe2O4-NPs induce toxic responses in various organisms such as human, mice, and algae. However, there is a serious deficit of information concerning their effects on human health and the environment. We aimed to investigate the toxic effects of CoFe2O4-NPs on liver (HepG2), colon (Caco-2), lung (A549), and neuron (SH-SY5Y) cells, which reflect different exposure routes in vitro, by using various toxicological endpoints. The cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, oxidative damage, and apoptosis induction of CoFe2O4-NPs (39 ± 17 nm) were evaluated. After 24 h, the nanoparticles decreased cell viability at ≤100 μg/mL, while increasing viability at >100 μg/mL. CoFe2O4-NPs induced DNA and oxidative damage with increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroxy deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels and decreased glutathione (GSH) levels with no change in protein carbonyl (PC) levels. CoFe2O4-NPs had apoptotic effect in HepG2 and Caco-2 cells in a concentration-dependent manner and necrotic effects on SH-SY5Y and A549 cells. Consequently, the adverse effects of CoFe2O4-NPs should raise concern about their safety in consumer products.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

8-OHdG:

8-Hydroxy deoxyguanosine

ATCC:

American type culture collection

AV:

Annexin V–FITC

CoFe2O4-NPs:

Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

DMEM:

Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium

DNA:

Deoxyribonucleic acid

EDTA:

Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay

EMEM:

Eagle’s minimum essential medium

FBS:

Fetal bovine serum

GSH:

Glutathione

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

IARC:

International Agency for Research on Cancer

ICP-MS:

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MTT:

3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide

NRU:

Neutral red uptake

OD:

Optical density

PBS:

Phosphate buffered saline

PC:

Protein carbonyl

PI:

Propidium iodide

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SD:

Standard deviation

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

References

  1. Dhawan A, Sharma V (2010) Toxicity assessment of nanomaterials: methods and challenges. Anal Bioanal Chem 398:589–605

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Kim YJ, Yu M, Park HO, Yang SI (2010) Comparative study of cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and genotoxicity induced by silica nanomaterials in human neuronal cell line. Mol Cell Toxicol 6:337–344

    Google Scholar 

  3. Arora S, Rajwade JM, Paknikar KM (2012) Nanotoxicology and in vitro studies: the need of the hour. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 258:151–165

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Brooking J, Davis SS, Illum L (2001) Transport of nanoparticles across the rat nasal mucosa. J Drug Target 9:267–279

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Alarifi S, Ali D, Verma A, Alakhtani S, et al. (2013) Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of copper oxide nanoparticles in human skin keratinocytes cells. Int J Toxicol 32:296–307

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Alinovi R, Goldoni M, Pinelli S, Campanini M, et al. (2015) Oxidative and pro-inflammatory effects of cobalt and titanium oxide nanoparticles on aortic and venous endothelial cells. Toxicol in Vitro 29:426–437

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Maaz K, Mumtaz A, Hasanain SK, Ceylan A (2007) Synthesis and magnetic properties of cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles prepared by wet chemical route. J Magn Magn Mater 308:289–295

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Di Guglielmo C, López DR, De Lapuente J, Mallafre JM, et al. (2010) Embryotoxicity of cobalt ferrite and gold nanoparticles: a first in vitro approach. Reprod Toxicol 30:271–276

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Amiri S, Shokrollahi H (2013) The role of cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles in medical science. Mater Sci Eng C 33:1–8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Ahmad F, Yao H, Ying Z, Xiaoyi L (2015) Toxicity of cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanobeads in Chlorella vulgaris: interaction, adaptation and oxidative stress. Chemosphere 139:479–485

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Gianoncelli A, Marmorato P, Ponti J, Pascolo L, et al. (2013) Interaction of magnetic nanoparticles with 87MG cells studied by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence techniques. X-Ray Spectrom 42:316–320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Matsuda S, Nakanishi T, Kaneko K, Osaka T (2015) Synthesis of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles using spermine and their effect on death in human breast cancer cells under an alternating magnetic field. Electrochim Acta 183:153–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Horev-Azaria L, Baldi G, Beno D, Bonacchi D, et al. (2013) Predictive toxicology of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles: comparative in-vitro study of different cellular models using methods of knowledge discovery from data. Part Fibre Toxicol:10–32

  14. Hwang DW, Lee DS, Kim S (2012) Gene expression profiles for genotoxic effects of silica-free and silica-coated cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. J Nucl Med 53(1):106–112

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Chattopadhyay S, Dash SK, Tripathy S, Das B, et al. (2015) Toxicity of cobalt oxide nanoparticles to normal cells: an in vitro and in vivo study. Chem Biol Interact 226:58–71

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Repetto G, del Peso A, Zurita JL (2008) Neutral red uptake assay for the estimation of cell viability/cytotoxicity. Nat Protoc 3:1125–1131

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Van Meerloo J, Kaspers GJ, Cloos J (2011) Cell sensitivity assays: the MTT assay. Methods Mol Biol 731:237–245

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Collins AR (2004) The comet assay for DNA damage and repair principles, applications, and limitations. Mol Biotechnol 26:249–261

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Speit G, Hartmann A (1999) The comet assay (single-cell gel test): a sensitive genotoxicity test for the detection of DNA damage and repair. DNA Repair Protocols 113:203–212

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 7:248–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ahmad F, Liu X, Zhou Y, Yao H (2015) An in vivo evaluation of acute toxicity of cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles in larval-embryo zebrafish (Danio rerio). Aquat Toxicol 166:21–28

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Mahmoudi M, Hofmann H, Rutishauser BR, Fink AP (2012) Assessing the in vitro and in vivo toxicity of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Chem Rev 112:2323–2338

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Marmorato P, Ceccone G, Gianoncelli A, Pascolo L, et al. (2011) Cellular distribution and degradation of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles in Balb/3 T3 mouse fibroblasts. Toxicol Lett 207:128–136

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Mariani V, Ponti J, Giudetti G, Broggi F, et al. (2012) Online monitoring of cell metabolism to assess the toxicity of nanoparticles: the case of cobalt ferrite. Nanotoxicology 6(3):272–287

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Pershina AG, Sazonov AE, Novikov DV, et al. (2011) Study of DNA interaction with cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 11:2673–2677

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Ahmad F, Liu X, Zhou Y, Yao H, et al. (2015) Assessment of thyroid endocrine system impairment and oxidative stress mediated by cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles in zebrafish larvae. Environ Toxicol. doi:10.1002/tox.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Kapilevich LV, D’yakova EY, Nosarev AV, Zaitseva TN, et al. (2010) Effect of nanodisperse ferrite cobalt (CoFe2O4) particles on contractile reactions in Guinea pigs airways. Bull Exp Biol Med 149(1):70–72

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Research Fund of Istanbul University (Project No: 40441).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Toxicology, Istanbul University, Beyazıt, 34116, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mahmoud Abudayyak & Gül Özhan

  2. Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Istanbul University, Avcilar, 34850, Istanbul, Turkey

    Tuba Altincekic Gurkaynak

Authors
  1. Mahmoud Abudayyak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tuba Altincekic Gurkaynak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gül Özhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gül Özhan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Abudayyak, M., Altincekic Gurkaynak, T. & Özhan, G. In Vitro Toxicological Assessment of Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles in Several Mammalian Cell Types. Biol Trace Elem Res 175, 458–465 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-016-0803-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-016-0803-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation