Abstract
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Abstract
The aim of this thesis work is to assess the toxicological effects of gold nanoparticles, using in vitro models (cell cultures) instead of in vivo tests.
The term nanoparticle identifies, conventionally, particles composed by atomic or molecular clusters having a diameter between 1 nm and 100 nm.
These materials have peculiar chemical and physical properties which differentiate the nanoparticles from the counterpart bulk materials and make them useful candidates for the development of nanotechnologies.
The interesting and, sometimes, unexpected properties of nanoparticles are due to the big surface area of the material, which prevails compared to the little mass.
The gold nanoparticles used in this study have dimensions of 5 nm, 15 nm and 40 nm. The in vitro studies have a big scientific interest because a little is known about the toxicology of nanoparticles.
The experimental data obtained on cell lines, which correspond to the different target organs, are used to understand the potential toxicity of nanomaterials and their action mechanism to assess the potential risk for the human health.
In this study we synthesized and characterized gold nanoparticles in terms of dimension, surface charge and ions release in water and in the culture media.
Furthermore we assessed the effects of gold nanoparticles evaluating the cellular viability, using the Colony Forming Efficiency test, one of the most promising in vitro test; the carcinogenic potential using the Cell Transformation Assay and the genotoxicity using the Micronucleus Assay and the Comet Test.
We found cellular model-dependent citotoxicity only for the 5 nm nanoparticles; the carcinogenic potential resulted negative for all the tested gold nanoparticles while it has been observed genotoxicity for 40 nm gold nanoparticles.
These results underline the importance of studying the different characteristics of nanomaterials as the dimension and the multidisciplinary aspects (chemistry, physics and biology) required for the understanding of the toxicological effects of nanomaterials.
