Background: In recent years the increasing use of nanoparticles has led researchers to study their effects on biological systems. The most important effects of nanoparticles on cells are their ability to induce or suppress production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Changes in reactive oxygen species play an important role in various developmental processes, including proliferation and differentiation in several diseases such as Parkinson. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of iron oxide nanoparticle with dimensions of less than 20 nanometers on the viability and neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cell (Royan B1).
Methods: To assess the effects of Fe2O3 nanoparticles on neuronal differentiation of Royan B1 cells, embryoid bodies were divided into eight groups receiving different amounts of nanoparticle (10, 20, 30 μg/mL) for 12 hours, retinoic acid (1 μM), and both. Differentiation was examined under phase contrast microscope and using immunocytochemistry.
Results: Data analysis showed that cell death was increased by a time and concentration manner and there was a direct relevance between iron oxide amount and H2O2 level in cells. Statistical analysis of embryoid bodies showed that neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells in groups that received nanoparticles were significantly lower than other groups and their viability were considerably reduced.
Conclusion: According to the findings of this study it can be concluded that iron oxide nanoparticles reduce retinoic acid-neuronal differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells and it seems that the main mechanism involved in the reduction of viability and neural differentiation was enhanced levels of ROS within the cells.