Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular I, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense , Madrid , Spain.
Nanotoxicology. 2014 Dec;8(8):813-23. doi: 10.3109/17435390.2013.829878. Epub 2013 Aug 27.
The outstanding properties of gold nanoparticles (NPs) make them very attractive for biomedical applications. In particular, the inhalation route has gained considerable interest as an innovative strategy for diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary diseases. It is, therefore, important to scrutinise the potentially deleterious or side effects of NPs on lung epithelium. The present study investigates, for the first time, the impact of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated NPs on freshly purified primary cultures of rat alveolar type II (ATII) cells. These cells play a central role in the respiratory function of the lungs. They are responsible for synthesizing and secreting pulmonary surfactant (PS), which is required to stabilise the respiratory surface during breathing dynamics. Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of NPs was evaluated by analysing morphology, viability and exocytotic activity of ATII cells (PS secretion). The impact of ATII cells' exposure to NPs was studied in a wide range of gold concentration with particles sizes of 15 and 100 nm. The results show that PEG-coated NPs are very modestly internalised by ATII cells and it neither leads to detectable morphological changes nor to decreased cell viability nor to alterations in basic functional parameters such as PS secretion, even on exposure to high gold concentration (~0.2 mM) during relatively long periods of time (24-48 h).
金纳米粒子（NPs）具有出色的性能，因此非常适合用于生物医学应用。特别是，吸入途径作为一种用于诊断和治疗肺部疾病的创新策略引起了广泛关注。因此，仔细研究 NPs 对肺上皮细胞的潜在有害或副作用非常重要。本研究首次研究了聚乙二醇（PEG）包覆的 NPs 对新鲜纯化的大鼠肺泡 II 型（ATII）细胞原代培养物的影响。这些细胞在肺部的呼吸功能中起着核心作用。它们负责合成和分泌肺表面活性剂（PS），这对于在呼吸动力学期间稳定呼吸表面是必需的。通过分析 ATII 细胞（PS 分泌）的形态、活力和胞吐活性来评估 NPs 的细胞毒性和细胞摄取。研究了 ATII 细胞暴露于 NPs 的影响，范围涵盖了不同金浓度（15nm 和 100nm 粒径的 NPs）。结果表明，PEG 包覆的 NPs 被 ATII 细胞适度内化，即使在较长时间（24-48 小时）内暴露于高金浓度（~0.2mM）时，也不会导致明显的形态变化、细胞活力降低或基本功能参数（如 PS 分泌）的改变。
