Research: How dangerous are nanoparticles?

    

    

Doctors newspaper online, 30.08.2019

    

        
        
        

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At least for a while, nanoparticles do not seem to damage cells, scientists have found.

Abstract Concept of Nanoparticles: How Harmful Are They?

© Mopic / stock.adobe.com

DÜSSELDORF. Carbon nanoparticles are indeed a promising tool for biomedical applications, such as targeted drug delivery in cells. An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf (HHU) has now investigated whether these particles are potentially dangerous for the organism and how cells try to dispose of the particles ( Sci Rep 2019; online August 19 ).

Nanoparticles are particles smaller than five nanometers, the size of macromolecules, the HHU recalls in its communication. So small particles are absorbed very well into body cells and can thus be good vehicles to transport attached to targeted drugs in sick cells. But they can also harbor health risks that are discussed, for example, in the context of particulate matter.

Carbon Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Lysosomes

HHU researchers have now investigated what happens when body cells absorb such nanoparticles. The researchers used nanoparticles from graphene; this is a special form of carbon that consists of two-dimensional layers of carbon hexagon rings. They put them in stem cells of the blood-forming system, the CD34 + stem cells. Because of their lifelong ability to divide, these cells are particularly susceptible to damaging environmental influences. Nanoparticle damage, if any, is believed to be more severe in these cells than in the more robust other cell types.

The team was able to show that the carbon nanoparticles enter the cells and are encapsulated in the lysosomes. The lysosomes are known in the body as a sort of disposal unit in which foreign bodies are accumulated and then normally degraded by enzymes. However, researchers did not observe such a degradation process over the duration of the experiments – a few days.

Long-term statements are not possible due to the experiments

Comparing the active genes of stem cells with and without the addition of nanoparticles revealed that only one out of a total of 20,800 recorded gene expressions was altered; slight effects were found in 1171 additional gene expressions.

"The encapsulation of the nanoparticles in the lysosomes ensures that these particles, at least for a few days – as long as our investigations last – are safely stored and can not damage the cell. Thus, the viability of the cell is maintained without significant change in gene expression, "said Professor Thomas Heinzel of the Institute for Experimental Solid State Physics of the HHU quoted in the message. This finding is important if one wants to use nanoparticles as ferries for drugs in the cell.

However, long-term predictions, which can detect an increased probability of cell degeneration in the direction of carcinogenesis, are not possible in the experimental framework chosen here. (eb)

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