Biocompatibility of TiO2 prolate nanospheroids as a potential photosenzitizer in therapy of cancer

• Published in: Journal of nanoparticle research : an interdisciplinary forum for nanoscale science and technology Vol. 22; no. 7
• Main Authors: Matijević, Milica, Nakarada, Đura, Liang, Xinyue, Korićanac, Lela, Rajsiglova, Lenka, Vannucci, Luca, Nešić, Maja, Vranješ, Mila, Mojović, Miloš, Mi, Lan, Estrela-Lopis, Irina, Böttner, Julia, Šaponjić, Zoran, Petković, Marijana, Stepić, Milutin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-07-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anatase; Biocompatibility; Biotechnology; Cancer; Cell activation; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Confocal microscopy; Cytotoxicity; Hydroxyl radicals; Immune system; Inorganic Chemistry; Intracellular; Lasers; Light; Localization; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Physical Chemistry; Research Paper; Titanium dioxide; Toxicity; Tumor cell lines; Photodynamic therapy; TiO; Nanomedicine; Cancer therapy; prolate nanospheroids; Oxidative activity
• ISSN: 1388-0764; 1572-896X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11051-020-04899-3

TiO
2
prolatenanospheroids (PNSs) may be photosensitizers (PSs), which act by catalyzation of hydroxyl radical (
∙
OH) formation upon light illumination.
∙
OH might, in turn, contribute to killing of cancer cells. On the other hand, there is great concern about toxicity in the dark of TiO
2
nanoparticles in general. In this work, we have investigated the biocompatibility of TiO
2
PNSs of the anatase crystal form (length between 100 and 300 nm and width 50 nm) in the dark with immune cells and light-induced cytotoxicity on several cancer cell lines. The effects of the treatment of different cell lines with several concentrations of TiO
2
PNSs suspensions showed the specifics of cells’ viability and the intracellular localization. The results of in vitro studies obtained by cytotoxicity assays adjusted to individual cell lines’ metabolism point towards the biocompatibility of TiO
2
PNSs at low and moderate concentrations in the dark, which neither kill the cells, nor induce activation of the immune system cells. Laser scanning confocal microscopy revealed that PNSs are taken up by cells, and insight into the intracellular distribution was obtained in this study.