NMR metabolomics reveals metabolism-mediated protective effects in liver (HepG2) cells exposed to sub-toxic levels of silver nanoparticles.
NMR metabolomics reveals metabolism-mediated protective effects in liver (HepG2) cells exposed to sub-toxic levels of silver nanoparticles.
J Proteome Res. 2018 Mar 02;:
Authors: Carrola J, Pinto RJB, Nasirpour M, Freire CSR, Gil AM, Santos C, Oliveira H, Duarte IF
Abstract
The expansion of biomedical and therapeutic applications of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) raises the need to further understand their biological effects on human cells. In this work, NMR metabolomics has been applied to reveal the metabolic effects of AgNPs towards human hepatoma (HepG2) cells, which are relevant with respect to nanoparticle accumulation and detoxification. Cellular responses to widely disseminated citrate-coated AgNPs (Cit30) and to emergent biogenic AgNPs prepared using an aqueous plant extract as reducing and stabilizing agent (GS30) have been compared with a view to assess the influence of nanoparticle coating on the metabolic effects produced. Sub-toxic concentrations (IC5 and IC20) of both nanoparticle types caused profound changes in the cellular metabolome, suggesting adaptations in energy production processes (glucose metabolism and the phosphocreatine system), antioxidant defenses, protein degradation and lipid metabolism. These signatures were proposed to reflect, mainly, metabolism-mediated protective mechanisms, and found to be largely common to Cit30 and GS30 AgNPs, although differences in the magnitude of response, not captured by conventional cytotoxicity assessment, were detected. Overall, this study highlights the value of NMR metabolomics for revealing sub-toxic biological effects and helping to understand cell-nanomaterial interactions.
PMID: 29498529 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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