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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 May 7.
Published in final edited form as: Nanoscale. 2015 May 7;7(17):7470–7481. doi: 10.1039/c5nr01133g

Table 2.

Detrimental effects induced by nAg on different cells.

Characteristics of nAg Cell types Doses
(cell viability)
ROS
levels
Major conclusions Ref.
6–20 nm, starch coating Human lung fibroblast
IMR-90 and human
glioblastoma cell line
U251
25–400 µg mL−1 Increased Intracellular nAg, uptake mainly through
macropinocytosis and clathrin-dependent
endocytosis, induced stress responses,
chromosomal abnormalities and
proliferation inhibition
75
43.9 nm, sphere, citrate
coating
Murine macrophage
line RAW 264.7
30–100 µg mL−1
(from less than
40% to 90%)
Increased Uptake and localization of nAg in cells
resulted in oxidative stress and cell
apoptosis
74
15, 100 nm, no coating Rat liver cell line
BRL 3A
5–50 µg mL−1
(from less than
20% to 70%)
Increased Increased LDH leakage and dysfunction
of mitochondria, along with ROS
generation, contributed to cellular
morphological modifications
32
15, 30 and 55 nm, no coating Rat alveolar
macrophages
10–75 µg mL−1
(from less than
20% to 80%)
Increased Oxidative stress induced mitochondrial
function reduction, membrane leakage
increase and inflammatory response in a
size-dependent manner
31
1–100 nm, no coating Mouse fibroblast
NIH 3T3
50–100 µg mL−1
(less than 50%)
Increased ROS generation and JNK activation
triggered mitochondrial-dependent
apoptosis
91
≤ 100 nm, no coating Human Chang liver
cells and Chinese
hamster lung fibroblasts
3–4 µg mL−1
(50%)
Not
reported
Endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling
mediated cellular apoptosis
92
26.2 ± 7.6 nm, sphere, citrate
coating
Mouse fibroblast
NIH 3T3
2–30 µg mL−1
(from less than
50% to 95%)
Increased ROS generation resulted in cellular
morphological abnormalities, autophagy
dysfunction and cell death
90
5, 28 and 100 nm, sphere,
PVP coating
Human blood
monocytes
0.3–1.25 µg mL−1
(from less than
40% to 80%)
Increased Enhanced hydrogen peroxide caused
mitochondrial membrane superoxide,
resulting in inflammasome formation and
cytokine IL-1β release
87
65 nm, sphere, citrate coating Human umbilical vein
endothelial cells
1–2 µg mL−1
(from less than
10% to 90%)
Increased Oxidative damage led to in cell dysfunction
and apoptosis following NF κB activation
88
25 nm, polysaccharide
coating versus no coating
Mouse embryonic
stem cells and mouse
embryonic fibroblasts
50 µg mL−1
(less than 60%)
Not reported Coated nAg elicited more severe DNA
damage and apotosis than uncoated
89
6–20 nm, sphere, starch
coating
Human lung fibroblast
cell line IMR-90 and
human glioblastoma
cell line U251
25–400 µg mL−1
(from less than
20% to 90%)
Increased Disruption of the mitochondrial respiratory
chain resulted in ROS production and ATP
synthesis reduction, leading to DNA
damage and cell cycle arrest
70
5–10 nm, no coating Human Jurkat T cells 0.05–0.2 µg mL−1
(70–90%)
Increased Oxidative damage led to DNA strand
breaks, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis
96
15.9 ± 7.6 nm, sphere, citrate
coating
Human lung epithelial
cell line A549
12.1 µg/ml
(80%)
Increased Up-regulated expression of stress
response-related genes caused cell cycle
arrest
103
10, 20, and 40 nm, sphere,
PVP coating;
45 × 10 nm, plate, PVP
coating;
60 nm × 20 µm, wires, PVP
coating
Rainbow trout gill fish
cell line RT-W1
0.39–25 µg mL−1 Increased High surface reactivity are responsible for
contributing to shape-dependent effects of
cell membrane lysis
53
57.7 ± 6.9 nm, sphere, PEG
coating
Murine macrophage cell
line J774A.1
1.2–8.7 µg mL−1
(100%)
Not
reported
Scavenger receptor-mediated
phagocytosis and clathrin- and
actin-dependent endocytosis coexisted in
cellular uptake of nAg
73
10, 40 and 75 nm, citrate
coating;
10 nm, PVP coating;
50 nm, no coating
Bronchial epithelial cell
line BEAS-2B
5–50 µg mL−1
(from less than
20% to 100%)
Not
detected
Cellular uptake, intracellular localization
and Ag release were responsible for
size-dependent cytotoxicity
56
10, 25 and 40 nm, sphere,
PVP coating;
45 × 10 nm, plate, PVP
coating
Human embryonic
kidney cell line
EK293T, human cervical
cancer cell line HeLa,
human prostate cancer
cell line PC3, human
hepatic carcinoma cell
line HepG2, and human
renal carcinoma cell line
A498
2–8 µg mL−1
(100%)
Not
detected
Changes of energy metabolism-related
gene expression and protein levels
resulted in cellular energy reprogramming
in a size- and shape-dependent manner
35
7–10 nm, no coating Human hepatic
carcinoma cell line
HepG2
0.1–3 µg mL−1
(from less than
50% to 160%)
Not
detected
A number of genes related to cell
proliferation and cell cycle, not stress
response, were up-regulated under a
nontoxic dose
34
10, 25, 40 and 110 nm,
sphere, PVP coating;
45 × 10 nm, plate, PVP
coating
Mouse erythroleukemia
cells
1–8 µg mL−1
(100%)
Not
detected
Reciprocal interaction between nAg with
RNA polymerase resulted in a robust
inhibition on overall RNA transcription
36

ROS, reactive oxygen species; PVP, polyvinylpyrrolidone; PEG, polyethylene glycols; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinases