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Size-dependent cytotoxicity of yttrium oxide nanoparticles on primary osteoblasts in vitro

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Abstract

Yttrium oxide nanoparticles are an excellent host material for the rare earth metals and have high luminescence efficiency providing a potential application in photodynamic therapy and biological imaging. In this study, the effects of yttrium oxide nanoparticles with four different sizes were investigated using primary osteoblasts in vitro. The results demonstrated that the cytotoxicity generated by yttrium oxide nanoparticles depended on the particle size, and smaller particles possessed higher toxicological effects. For the purpose to elucidate the relationship between reactive oxygen species generation and cell damage, cytomembrane integrity, intracellular reactive oxygen species level, mitochondrial membrane potential, cell apoptosis rate, and activity of caspase-3 in cells were then measured. Increased reactive oxygen species level was also observed in a size-dependent way. Thus, our data demonstrated that exposure to yttrium oxide nanoparticles resulted in a size-dependent cytotoxicity in cultured primary osteoblasts, and reactive oxygen species generation should be one possible damage pathway for the toxicological effects produced by yttrium oxide particles. The results may provide useful information for more rational applications of yttrium oxide nanoparticles in the future.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21471044 and 21001038), the Youth Talent Fund Project of Hebei Education Department (BJ2014007), and the College Students Innovative Training Project of Hebei University (201410075072).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Diagnosis of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Hebei Province, College of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, China

    Guoqiang Zhou, Yunfei Li, Yanyan Ma, Zhu Liu, Lili Cao, Da Wang, Sudan Liu, Wenshi Xu & Wenying Wang

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  1. Guoqiang Zhou
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  2. Yunfei Li
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  3. Yanyan Ma
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  4. Zhu Liu
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  6. Da Wang
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  7. Sudan Liu
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Correspondence to Guoqiang Zhou.

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Zhou, G., Li, Y., Ma, Y. et al. Size-dependent cytotoxicity of yttrium oxide nanoparticles on primary osteoblasts in vitro. J Nanopart Res 18, 135 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3447-5

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