Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory for Biological Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing 100190, China.
CIC biomaGUNE , 20009 San Sebastian, Spain.
ACS Nano. 2017 Aug 22;11(8):7807-7820. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.7b01760. Epub 2017 Jul 18.
Exposure of cells to colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) can have concentration-dependent harmful effects. Mostly, such effects are monitored with biochemical assays or probes from molecular biology, i.e., viability assays, gene expression profiles, etc., neglecting that the presence of NPs can also drastically affect cellular morphology. In the case of polymer-coated Au NPs, we demonstrate that upon NP internalization, cells undergo lysosomal swelling, alterations in mitochondrial morphology, disturbances in actin and tubulin cytoskeleton and associated signaling, and reduction of focal adhesion contact area and number of filopodia. Appropriate imaging and data treatment techniques allow for quantitative analyses of these concentration-dependent changes. Abnormalities in morphology occur at similar (or even lower) NP concentrations as the onset of reduced cellular viability. Cellular morphology is thus an important quantitative indicator to verify harmful effects of NPs to cells, without requiring biochemical assays, but relying on appropriate staining and imaging techniques.
细胞暴露于胶体纳米颗粒（NPs）会产生浓度依赖性的有害影响。大多数情况下，这些影响是通过生化测定或分子生物学探针来监测的，例如，活力测定、基因表达谱等，而忽略了 NPs 的存在也会极大地影响细胞形态。在聚合物包覆的 Au NPs 的情况下，我们证明，在 NP 内化后，细胞经历溶酶体肿胀、线粒体形态改变、肌动蛋白和微管细胞骨架及相关信号的紊乱，以及粘着斑接触面积和丝状伪足数量的减少。适当的成像和数据处理技术允许对这些浓度依赖性变化进行定量分析。形态异常发生在类似（甚至更低）的 NP 浓度，就像细胞活力降低开始一样。因此，细胞形态是验证 NPs 对细胞产生有害影响的一个重要的定量指标，而不需要生化测定，只需依靠适当的染色和成像技术。
