Fig 3. Effect of organic capped CdSe@ZnS NCs on cell viability of astrocytes.

Confluent astrocytes, plated in 96 well plates, were treated with luminescent organic capped CdSe@ZnS NCs or CHCl₃ at the indicated concentrations. The control (CTRL, A) was obtained from untreated astrocytes in serum-free DMEM. After treatment for 24 h at 37°C, 5% CO₂ the cells were subjected to the cell viability test with MTT as described in Experimental section. Micrographs show representative results of cell morphology observed under phase-contrast microscope (50X magnification) after 24 h of treatment with NCs (C, left panel) or CHCl₃ (C, right panel). The graphs represents the cell viability expressed as percentage of cell survival in comparison with control (CTRL) (B). A dose of NCs or CHCl₃ that determined a cell viability < 60% was considered toxic. Data represent the mean values ± SD of three different experiments performed on different cell populations.