Figure 2.

Possible toxic mechanisms of metal NPs in HaCaT cells.

Notes: Metal NPs induce ROS explosion intracellularly, and the accumulation of NPs might result in the following effects: cell-cycle arrest, which is associated with DNA damage and chromatin structure remodeling caused by oxidative stress (G₂/M cell-cycle arrest prevents DNA-damaged cells from entering mitosis to repair DNA and induce apoptosis); expression of epigenetic related genes, resulting in modifications of chromatin structure and alterations in gene expression; and mitochondrial damage and alteration of apoptosis and autophagy-related genes, which lead to autophagy and mitochondrial apoptosis.

Abbreviations: NPs, nanoparticles; ROS, reactive oxygen species.