Genotoxicity of TiO2 Nanoparticles in Four Different Human Cell Lines (A549, HEPG2, A172 and SH-SY5Y)

Fátima Brandão; Natalia Fernández-Bertólez; Fernanda Rosário; Maria João Bessa; Sónia Fraga; Eduardo Pásaro; João Paulo Teixeira; Blanca Laffon; Vanessa Valdiglesias; Carla Costa

doi:10.3390/nano10030412

Genotoxicity of TiO₂ Nanoparticles in Four Different Human Cell Lines (A549, HEPG2, A172 and SH-SY5Y)

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2020 Feb 27;10(3):412. doi: 10.3390/nano10030412.

Authors

Fátima Brandão^{1

2

3}, Natalia Fernández-Bertólez⁴, Fernanda Rosário^{1

2}, Maria João Bessa^{1

2

3}, Sónia Fraga^{1

2}, Eduardo Pásaro⁴, João Paulo Teixeira^{1

2}, Blanca Laffon⁴, Vanessa Valdiglesias^{4

5}, Carla Costa^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ EPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas, 4050-600 Porto, Portugal.
² Environmental Health Department, National Institute of Health, Rua Alexandre Herculano 321, 4000-053 Porto, Portugal.
³ ICBAS-Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, U. Porto-University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Area of Psychobiology, DICOMOSA Group, Universidade da Coruña, , Edificio de Servicios Centrales de Investigación, Campus Elviña s/n, 15071-A Coruña, Spain.
⁵ Centro de Investigacións Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Universidade da Coruña, Campus Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.

Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) have a wide variety of applications in many consumer products, including as food additives, increasing the concern about the possible hazards that TiO₂ NPs may pose to human health. Although most previous studies have focused on the respiratory system, ingestion must also be considered as an important exposure route. Furthermore, after inhalation or ingestion, TiO₂ NPs can reach several organs, such as the liver, brain or lungs. Taking this into consideration, the present study focuses on the uptake and potential genotoxicity (micronuclei induction) of TiO₂ NPs on four human cell lines of diverse origin: lung cells (A549), liver cells (HepG2), glial cells (A172) and neurons (SH-SY5Y), using flow cytometry methods. Results showed a concentration-, time- and cell-type- dependent increase in TiO₂ NPs uptake but no significant induction of micronuclei in any of the tested conditions. Data obtained reinforce the importance of cell model and testing protocols choice for toxicity assessment. However, some questions remain to be answered, namely on the role of cell culture media components on the agglomeration state and mitigation of TiO₂ NPs toxic effects.

Keywords: A172; A549; HepG2; SH-SY5Y; micronuclei; titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs); uptake.

Abstract

Grants and funding