Figure 5.

NAC inhibition effects on ZnO NP-induced cytotoxicity, ZnO NP-induced ROS generation, and oxidative stress-related gene changes.

Notes: (A) SHSY5Y cells were treated with ZnO^a NPs, ZnO^b NPs, and ZnCl₂ at various concentrations for 24 hours, and NAC (10 mM) was incubated simultaneously. Cell-viability data were obtained using CCK-8 assay. (B) ROS values in SHSY5Y cells after the ZnO NPs (50 μg/mL) and ZnCl₂ (4 μg/mL) treatments for 1, 3 and 5 hours. (C) ROS values in SHSY5Y cells after the ZnO NPs (25 μg/mL) and ZnCl₂ (2 μg/mL) treatments for 1, 6, 12 and 24 hours. (D) Oxidative stress-related gene changes in SHSY5Y cells after treatment with ZnO NPs and ZnCl₂. Results shown as means ± SEM of three independent experiments. *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.

Abbreviations: NAC, N-acetylcysteine; NP, nanoparticle; ROS, reactive oxygen species.