Size-Dependent Cytotoxicity of Nanocarbon Blacks

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Huating Kong¹  Yu Zhang²  Yongjun Li³  Zhifen Cui²  Kai Xia²  Yanhong Sun²  Qunfen Zhao¹ 

[1] School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; E-Mail:;Division of Physical Biology, and Bioimaging Center, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China; E-Mails:;Key Laboratory of Organofluorine Chemistry and Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; E-Mail:

关键词: nanocarbon blacks (NCBs);    size;    cytotoxicity;    cellular uptake;    cytotoxic mechanism;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms141122529

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In this study, we investigated the toxic effects of nanocarbon blacks (NCBs) with different sizes to mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. MTT and fluorescence-based LIVE assays demonstrated that NCBs uptake caused a size and dose-dependent growth inhibition to the cells. Optical microscopy observations and ^99mTc radionuclide labeling techniques were used to investigate the cellular uptake of NCBs with different sizes qualitatively and quantitatively, respectively. Results showed that the cellular uptake amounts of NCBs increased with their increasing size. Large quantities of internal NCBs induced oxidative stress and nuclear damage in cells; these effects may be the critical factors involved in the cytotoxicity of NCBs. The implications associated with these findings are discussed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland