Differences in the Cell Type-Specific Toxicity of Diamond Nanoparticles to Endothelial Cells Depending on the Exposure of the Cells to Nanoparticles

Mateusz Wierzbicki; Katarzyna Zawadzka; Barbara Wójcik; Sławomir Jaworski; Barbara Strojny; Agnieszka Ostrowska; Artur Małolepszy; Marta Mazurkiewicz-Pawlicka; Ewa Sawosz

doi:10.2147/IJN.S411424

Differences in the Cell Type-Specific Toxicity of Diamond Nanoparticles to Endothelial Cells Depending on the Exposure of the Cells to Nanoparticles

Int J Nanomedicine. 2023 May 29:18:2821-2838. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S411424. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mateusz Wierzbicki¹, Katarzyna Zawadzka¹, Barbara Wójcik¹, Sławomir Jaworski¹, Barbara Strojny¹, Agnieszka Ostrowska¹, Artur Małolepszy², Marta Mazurkiewicz-Pawlicka², Ewa Sawosz¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nanobiotechnology, Institute of Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, 02-786, Poland.
² Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, 00-654, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: Diamond nanoparticles are considered to be one of the most cytocompatible carbon nanomaterials; however, their toxicity varies significantly depending on the analysed cell types. The aim was to investigate the specific sensitivity of endothelial cells to diamond nanoparticles dependent on exposure to nanoparticles.

Methods: Diamond nanoparticles were characterized with Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Toxicity of diamond nanoparticles was assessed for endothelial cells (HUVEC), human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) and HS-5 cell line. The effect of diamond nanoparticles on the level of ROS, NO, NADPH and protein synthesis of angiogenesis-related proteins of endothelial cells was evaluated.

Results and discussion: Our studies demonstrated severe cell type-specific toxicity of diamond nanoparticles to endothelial cells (HUVEC) depending on nanoparticle surface interaction with cells. Furthermore, we have assessed the effect on cytotoxicity of the bioconjugation of nanoparticles with a peptide containing the RGD motive and a serum protein corona. Our study suggests that the mechanical interaction of diamond nanoparticles with the endothelial cell membranes and the endocytosis of nanoparticles lead to the depletion of NADPH, resulting in an intensive synthesis of ROS and a decrease in the availability of NO. This leads to severe endothelial toxicity and a change in the protein profile, with changes in major angiogenesis-related proteins, including VEGF, bFGF, ANPT2/TIE-2, and MMP, and the production of stress-related proteins, such as IL-6 and IL-8.

Conclusion: We confirmed the presence of a relationship between the toxicity of diamond nanoparticles and the level of cell exposure to nanoparticles and the nanoparticle surface. The results of the study give new insights into the conditioned toxicity of nanomaterials and their use in biomedical applications.

Keywords: diamond nanoparticles; endothelial cells; nanotoxicity; oxidative toxicity.

MeSH terms

Cell Line
Endothelial Cells* / metabolism
Humans
NADP
Nanoparticles* / chemistry
Nanoparticles* / toxicity
Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism

Substances

Reactive Oxygen Species
NADP

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, project number 2020/37/B/NZ7/03532.