Toxicity determinants of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: the relationship between functionalization and agglomeration

Publication date: Available online 19 January 2016 Source:Toxicology Reports Author(s): Manfredi Allegri, Dimitrios K. Perivoliotis, Massimiliano G. Bianchi, Martina Chiu, Alessandra Pagliaro, Malamatenia A. Koklioti, Aikaterini-Flora A. Trompeta, Enrico Bergamaschi, Ovidio Bussolati, Constantinos A. Charitidis The elucidation of toxicity determinants of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) is still incomplete. Functionalization with carboxyl groups is, however, commonly used to mitigate MWCNT toxicity, although the rationale for the mitigating effect has not been fully clarified yet. In this work, two optimized chemical vapor deposition methods were employed to obtain MWCNTs of comparable length but different diameter, which were subsequently functionalized. For MWCNT of diameter larger than 40nm, no detrimental effects on cell viability of macrophages were observed, while mild cytotoxicity was recorded for diameters between 15 and 40nm, with a mitigating effect of functionalization. To investigate the factors responsible for the mitigation, we used the thinnest MWCNT preparation on different cell models, evaluating several endpoints, such as viability, production of nitric oxide (NO), expression of pro-inflammatory markers, the Trans-Epithelial Electrical Resistance (TEER), and clonogenic activity. Substantial mitigation of the changes caused by pristine MWCNT was observed not only with carboxyl-, but also with amino-functionalized MWCNT, suggestin...
Source: Toxicology Reports - Category: Toxicology Source Type: research