Lung Injury Induced by TiO2 Nanoparticles Depends on Their Structural Features: Size, Shape, Crystal Phases, and Surface Coating

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Jiangxue Wang²  Yubo Fan¹ 

[1] Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; E-Mail

关键词: TiO₂ nanoparticles;    nanotoxicology;    physicochemical property;    lung injury;    pulmonary inflammation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms151222258

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

With the rapid development of nanotechnology, a variety of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are being produced. Nanotoxicology has become a hot topic in many fields, as researchers attempt to elucidate the potential adverse health effects of NPs. The biological activity of NPs strongly depends on physicochemical parameters but these are not routinely considered in toxicity screening, such as dose metrics. In this work, nanoscale titanium dioxide (TiO₂), one of the most commonly produced and widely used NPs, is put forth as a representative. The correlation between the lung toxicity and pulmonary cell impairment related to TiO₂ NPs and its unusual structural features, including size, shape, crystal phases, and surface coating, is reviewed in detail. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in pulmonary inflammation in response to the properties of TiO₂ NPs is also briefly described. To fully understand the potential biological effects of NPs in toxicity screening, we highly recommend that the size, crystal phase, dispersion and agglomeration status, surface coating, and chemical composition should be most appropriately characterized.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.