Table 1.
Cited Nanomaterials with Characteristics, Applications and their Effects on In Vitro and In Vivo System
| Particle | Characteristics | Application Field | Toxicity Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fullerene (C60) | Spherical molecule with 60 carbon atoms arranged in a cagelike structure | Medical technologies (free radical scavenger, anti-HIV) | Oxidative damage [21] |
| Carbon nanotube (CNT) | Single-walled carbon nanotubes: one grapheme layer; Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs):several concentric grapheme layer | Electronic device, enzymatic films, tissue-engineered scaffolds, drug/gene delivery | Granulomas in rat [33] and in mice lungs [12, 34]. Anti-proliferative effects, decreased cell adhesion [17], apoptosis, necrosis [35] and oxidative stress [36] |
| Carbon nano-onion (CNO) | Giant nested fullerene | Solar cells, light emitting-devices, fuel-cell electrode | Impact cellular functions such as maintenance, growth and differentiation [61] |
| Polypropylenimine dendrimer (PPI) | Polymeric molecules composed of multiple branched monomers radially emanating from a central core | Non-viral vector for nucleic acids and drugs delivery | Inadvertent gene expression change and apoptosis in human carcinomas cells [75] |
| Silica | SiO2 ; crystalline or amorphous form | fillers in the rubber industry, tire compounds, paints, toothpaste cosmetics | Pulmonary diseases, such as silicosis, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer [43]; activation of inflammatory response in mice [76] |
| Titanium dioxide | TiO2; poorly soluble particulate | White pigment in paints, paper, plastic, food colorant; cosmetics and pharmaceuticals (ultrafine TiO2) | Inflammation, fibrosis, pulmonary damage and even DNA damage [48, 49]; enter the human stratum corneum and interact with the immune system [50, 51] |
| Metallic cobalt | CoCl2 | magnetic data recording, biomedical applications, DNA assays, and hyperthermia for cancer treatments | Alteration of mRNAs synthesis [90] |
| Gold nanoparticles (GNP) | Suspension of sub-micrometer-sized particles of gold in a fluid. Variety of shape: spheres, rods, cubes, and caps are some of the more frequently observed ones | conjugation with DNA and proteins (detect conformation changes in the attached proteins) | Contrasting results about toxicity from different studies are toxic to mammalian and bacterial cells [58]; little cytotoxicity [59, 60] |