Carbon nano-onions as fluorescent on/off modulated nanoprobes for diagnostics

• Stefania Lettieri,
• Marta d’Amora,
• Adalberto Camisasca,
• Alberto Diaspro and
• Silvia Giordani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1878–1888, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.188

• changes in the cells and tissues. Some of these events include cell proliferation and apoptosis [1], ion transport [2] and other cellular process and diseases such as cancer [3][4][5], Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease [6]. Despite the large number of nanotechnology platforms available to date for

• (Figure 8B,C), a progressive accumulation of fluo-CNOs was observed during the cell proliferation. Additionally, the efficient uptake was supported by a three dimensional reconstruction of cells treated with CNOs (Figure 9). Finally, we demonstrated that the on/off fluorescent emission properties of the

• a positive control for cytotoxicity, the cells were incubated with 5% DMSO. Cell viability was determined using the cell proliferation reagent WST-1 (Roche Applied Sciences). After aspiration of the culture medium, a mixture of DMEM and WST1 reagent (1/10 volume) was added to each well. After 2 h of

Development of polycationic amphiphilic cyclodextrin nanoparticles for anticancer drug delivery

• Gamze Varan,
• Juan M. Benito,
• Carmen Ortiz Mellet and
• Erem Bilensoy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1457–1468, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.145

• human breast cancer cell line. For this purpose, MCF-7 cells were incubated with different concentrations of PCX in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Non-treated cells were incubated with DMEM alone and were used as control group. Cell proliferation was determined and the IC50 value of PCX was calculated and

Carbon nanomaterials sensitize prostate cancer cells to docetaxel and mitomycin C via induction of apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation

• Kati Erdmann,
• Jessica Ringel,
• Silke Hampel,
• Manfred P. Wirth and
• Susanne Fuessel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1307–1317, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.132

• Cellular viability was quantified in quintuplicate in 96-well culture plates using the cell proliferation reagent WST-1 (Roche, Mannheim, Germany), for which no interaction between the water-soluble formazan dye and CNTs has been observed [32]. WST-1 reagent was added to the cells 72 h after end of

• treatment according to the instructions of the manufacturer. Absorbance was measured with a spectrophotometer (Anthos labtec, Krefeld, Germany) at 450 nm with 620 nm as reference wavelength and was directly proportional to the viability of the cells. Cell proliferation, clonogenic survival and cell death

• rate For examination of cell proliferation, cell colony formation and apoptosis cells were seeded into 6-well plates and incubated as indicated above. Seventy two hours after the end of treatment cells were harvested by trypsin/EDTA treatment and submitted to the aforementioned assays. Cell

Nano-engineered skin mesenchymal stem cells: potential vehicles for tumour-targeted quantum-dot delivery

• Liga Saulite,
• Dominyka Dapkute,
• Karlis Pleiko,
• Ineta Popena,
• Simona Steponkiene,
• Ricardas Rotomskis and
• Una Riekstina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1218–1230, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.123

• observations have been reported in the study of mouse embryonic stem cells, where QD loss was still detected after the inhibition of cell proliferation, suggesting that QDs might be excreted from cells [50]. Indeed, we demonstrated that MSCs could be repetitively labelled by the removal of supernatants from QD

Silicon microgrooves for contact guidance of human aortic endothelial cells

• Sara Fernández-Castillejo,
• Pilar Formentín,
• Úrsula Catalán,
• Josep Pallarès,
• Lluís F. Marsal and
• Rosa Solà

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 675–681, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.72

• not observed and the cell spreading seems lower than after 2 days of incubation (data not shown). Taking all these data together, it seems safe to assure that the presence of microstructure affects cell morphology, irrespective of the patterned employed. Cell proliferation The effect of surface

• alignment in the direction of the groove pattern, accordingly to the concept of contact guidance, and circularity and filopodia were reduced on patterned substrates when compared to flat substrates. Lastly, cell proliferation was found to be lower on patterned substrates, surely because of the

• presence of filopodia. Circularity was calculated as the ratio between the minimum and maximum diameters. Values range from 0 to 1, where 0 represents an elongated cell and 1 a perfect circular shape. Alignment and presence of filopodia was estimated by visual assessment. Cell proliferation was calculated

Low temperature co-fired ceramic packaging of CMOS capacitive sensor chip towards cell viability monitoring

• Niina Halonen,
• Joni Kilpijärvi,
• Maciej Sobocinski,
• Timir Datta-Chaudhuri,
• Antti Hassinen,
• Someshekar B. Prakash,
• Peter Möller,
• Pamela Abshire,
• Sakari Kellokumpu and
• Anita Lloyd Spetz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1871–1877, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.179

• cell proliferation thus seemed to be normal, the use of the LTCC package for the sensor chip was regarded as promising [23]. Here we have tested version 2 of the LTCC package made from DupontTM 951 LTCC tape instead of the Heraeus HeraLock® Tape HL2000 (no longer produced) used in our earlier version

Nano- and microstructured materials for in vitro studies of the physiology of vascular cells

• Alexandra M. Greiner,
• Adria Sales,
• Hao Chen,
• Sarah A. Biela,
• Dieter Kaufmann and
• Ralf Kemkemer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1620–1641, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.155

• and their biological responses to micro- and nanostructured surfaces are reviewed. Emphasis is given to studies of cell morphology and motility, cell proliferation, the cytoskeleton and cell-matrix adhesions, and signal transduction pathways of vascular cells. We finalize with a short outlook on

• proliferation rate of ECs on colloidal silica-coated surfaces with nanoroughness was decreased compared to ECs on flat surfaces [43]. For both types of vascular cells it is not clear through which mechanism the cell proliferation is influenced by the surface topography. Therefore, more research has still to be

• performed in these cell types to determine how substrate shape and feature dimensions correlate with cell proliferation. 2.2 Structured surfaces influence the morphology, adhesion, and motility of vascular cells Cells cultured on micro- and nanostructured substrates tend to change their morphology and their

Improved biocompatibility and efficient labeling of neural stem cells with poly(L-lysine)-coated maghemite nanoparticles

• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Marina Dobrivojević,
• Lada Brkić Ahmed,
• Michal Babič,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Daniel Horák and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 926–936, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.84

• biocompatibility was satisfactory. No detrimental effect on viability or proliferation of NSCs was observed, as compared with unlabeled control cells. Contrarily to that, the efficient concentration of nanomag®-D-spio (4 mg/mL) needed to achieve cell labeling, scored low (<80%) in a cell proliferation rate as

Unraveling the neurotoxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles: focusing on molecular mechanisms

• Bin Song,
• Yanli Zhang,
• Jia Liu,
• Xiaoli Feng,
• Ting Zhou and
• Longquan Shao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 645–654, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.57

• expression. These stable alternations are not caused by changes to DNA sequence itself, but instead arise during development and cell proliferation [13][14]. DNA methylation is the one of the most extensively studied epigenetic mechanisms. Whether TiO2 NPs are able to induce neurotoxicity through altering

• apoptotic cells. Pretreating PC12 with a ROS scavenger could alleviate these harmful effects induced by TiO2 NPs [51]. In addition, an inhibition in cell proliferation, altered cell morphology (assessed by decreased F-actin), and apoptosis could be induced by TiO2 NPs in C6 and U373 cells. TiO2 NPs were

• potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus was reduced and the expressions of NMDA receptors were down-regulated as well. These changes contributed to impaired spatial memory. Prenatal exposure to TiO2 NPs was also shown to result in decreased cell proliferation in the hippocampus of rat offspring, which was

Fabrication of hybrid nanocomposite scaffolds by incorporating ligand-free hydroxyapatite nanoparticles into biodegradable polymer scaffolds and release studies

• Balazs Farkas,
• Marina Rodio,
• Ilaria Romano,
• Alberto Diaspro,
• Romuald Intartaglia and
• Szabolcs Beke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2217–2223, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.227

• similarity to the mineral constituent of human bones, are bioactive and can be fairly easily bioconjugated [1]. HA NPs can enhance cell proliferation in bone tissue regeneration [2]. Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field that combines the principles of life sciences and engineering to improve

Influence of gold, silver and gold–silver alloy nanoparticles on germ cell function and embryo development

• Ulrike Taylor,
• Daniela Tiedemann,
• Christoph Rehbock,
• Wilfried A. Kues,
• Stephan Barcikowski and
• Detlef Rath

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 651–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.66

• effect was caused by silver ions. However, it supports findings made on spermatogonial stem cells in vitro, which claimed a decrease in cell proliferation after AgNP exposure [40][41]. Observations concerning female reproductive organs are rather rare as most nanoparticle biodistribution studies have

Novel ZnO:Ag nanocomposites induce significant oxidative stress in human fibroblast malignant melanoma (Ht144) cells

• Syeda Arooj,
• Samina Nazir,
• Akhtar Nadhman,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Bakhtiar Muhammad,
• Ishaq Ahmad,
• Kehkashan Mazhar and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 570–582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.59

• ) assay the cytotoxicity in vitro and the differential effect of different Ag contents in the ZnO nanoparticles affecting cell proliferation was analyzed. The photo-oxidation-mediated cytotoxicity of different NPs was investigated by irradiating the samples with daylight or keeping them in the dark. The

Silica micro/nanospheres for theranostics: from bimodal MRI and fluorescent imaging probes to cancer therapy

• Shanka Walia and
• Amitabha Acharya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 546–558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.57

• biocompatibility of these NPs was investigated by standard MTT cell proliferation assay. Studies suggested that the cell viability was maintained at 83% even after a high dose of 500 µg·mL−1 of the nanocomposites. To check the applicability of these nanocomposites as fluorescence imaging agents, Gastric SGC7901

Pulmonary surfactant augments cytotoxicity of silica nanoparticles: Studies on an in vitro air–blood barrier model

• Jennifer Y. Kasper,
• Lisa Feiden,
• Maria I. Hermanns,
• Christoph Bantz,
• Michael Maskos,
• Ronald E. Unger and
• C. James Kirkpatrick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 517–528, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.54

• ® in the well was 0.04 mg/mL. Cytotoxicity, determination of cell viability: The viability of the cells was determined as described in our previous studies [9][10][11] using the CellTiter 96® AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay (MTS, Promega, G3582). After nanoparticle incubation, medium was

Comparative evaluation of the impact on endothelial cells induced by different nanoparticle structures and functionalization

• Lisa Landgraf,
• Ines Müller,
• Peter Ernst,
• Miriam Schäfer,
• Christina Rosman,
• Isabel Schick,
• Oskar Köhler,
• Hartmut Oehring,
• Vladimir V. Breus,
• Thomas Basché,
• Carsten Sönnichsen,
• Wolfgang Tremel and
• Ingrid Hilger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 300–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.28

• used a colorimetric (MTS: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt; Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay, Promega, Germany) and a luminescence (ATPLite assay, PerkinElmer, Germany) based cytotoxicity assay. In this context, cells were

The effect of surface charge on nonspecific uptake and cytotoxicity of CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots

• Vladimir V. Breus,
• Anna Pietuch,
• Marco Tarantola,
• Thomas Basché and
• Andreas Janshoff

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 281–292, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.26

• positively- and negatively-charged QDs within 48 h, and an ≈10–20% loss of vitality after interaction with 50 nM zwitterionic QDs for 24 and 48 h. The 20–40% gain in mitochondrial activity of MDCKII cells observed for cells after 24 h of interaction with QDs could be attributed to an increase in cell

• proliferation, which was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1). We observed a small fraction of abnormally large cells (twice as large as the normal size), and cells with two nuclei after exposure to the 50 nM solutions of QDs (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1

Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes and their applications

• Saban Kalay,
• Zehra Yilmaz,
• Ozlem Sen,
• Melis Emanet,
• Emine Kazanc and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 84–102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.9

• dispersion in aqueous media for biological applications [12]. The effect of the PEI-coated BNNTs with respect to viability, metabolism and cell proliferation of human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y) was investigated. The PEI-coated BNNTs exposed cells analyzed at different time intervals. The viability

• -embedded polylactide-polycaprolactone (PLC–BNNT) in orthopedic implants [75]. Using real-time PCR methods, they studied the RunX2 gene expression profile, which is a transcription factor responsible for enhancing the cell proliferation. The results of the experiments showed that the PLC–BNNTs increased the

• RunX2 gene expression of the osteoblast cells up to sevenfold. It was concluded that the positive effect of the BNNTs embedded into the scaffold on the cell proliferation was due to the natural affinity of proteins to the hydrophobic BNNTs [75]. Ciofani et al. investigated the cytotoxicity of GC–BNNTs

Proinflammatory and cytotoxic response to nanoparticles in precision-cut lung slices

• Stephanie Hirn,
• Nadine Haberl,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Matthias Epple,
• Wolfgang G. Kreyling,
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,
• Markus Rehberg and
• Fritz Krombach

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2440–2449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.253

• persisted up to 72 h (Figure 2). Since an increased WST-1 conversion could also indicate cell proliferation, we examined if there was enhanced cell proliferation by performing a proliferation assay (Click-iT® EdU Alexa Fluor® 488 Imaging Kit) in which the incorporation of 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine, a

• nucleoside analogue to thymidine, into replicated DNA can be visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy. As shown in Figure 3, cell proliferation was not significantly altered as shown by this assay. Responses of PCLS after exposure to (nano)particles Cytotoxic response After 4 h of incubation with 20

• control (WST-1 conversion at 0 h). All tests were performed in duplicates. Cell proliferation assay For determination of cell proliferation, the Click-iT® EdU Alexa Fluor® 488 Imaging Kit (Invitrogen, Karlsruhe, Germany) was used. PCLS were incubated for 4 h with 20 µM EdU (5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine, a

Functionalized polystyrene nanoparticles as a platform for studying bio–nano interactions

• Cornelia Loos,
• Tatiana Syrovets,
• Anna Musyanovych,
• Volker Mailänder,
• Katharina Landfester,
• G. Ulrich Nienhaus and
• Thomas Simmet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2403–2412, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.250

• used superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Keywords: amino groups; apoptosis; carboxyl groups; cell proliferation; leukemia cell lines; macrophages; mTOR; polystyrene nanoparticles; Review Applications of polystyrene Polystyrene, one of the most extensively used types of plastic [1], is an

• -localized with lysosomes independent of the cell type (Figure 3, and [41][42][43]). Further analysis demonstrated that PS-COOH did not affect the THP-1 cell proliferation, whereas PS-NH2 particles virtually immediately terminated the cell division [41]. It is also notable, that the cell size decreased after

Effect of silver nanoparticles on human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation

• Christina Sengstock,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Matthias Epple,
• Thomas A. Schildhauer and
• Manfred Köller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2058–2069, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.214

• . analyzed the expression of alkaline phosphatase in MSCs in the presence of Ag-NP (up to 1 μg·mL−1) after prolonged cell sulture (35 d). In contrast to the significant inhibition in cell proliferation observed at the highest concentration of Ag-NP, the authors found no influence on the activity of alkaline

• Technologies) while using 75 cm2 flasks (Falcon, Becton Dickinson GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany). Cells were maintained at 37 °C in a humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere. hMSCs were sub-cultivated every 7–14 d depending on cell proliferation. Adherent cells were washed with phosphate buffered saline solution (PBS, Life

PVP-coated, negatively charged silver nanoparticles: A multi-center study of their physicochemical characteristics, cell culture and in vivo experiments

• Sebastian Ahlberg,
• Alexandra Antonopulos,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Ralf Dringen,
• Matthias Epple,
• Rebekka Flöck,
• Wolfgang Goedecke,
• Christina Graf,
• Nadine Haberl,
• Jens Helmlinger,
• Fabian Herzog,
• Frederike Heuer,
• Stephanie Hirn,
• Christian Johannes,
• Stefanie Kittler,
• Manfred Köller,
• Katrin Korn,
• Wolfgang G. Kreyling,
• Fritz Krombach,
• Jürgen Lademann,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Eva M. Luther,
• Marcelina Malissek,
• Martina C. Meinke,
• Daniel Nordmeyer,
• Anne Pailliart,
• Jörg Raabe,
• Fiorenza Rancan,
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,
• Eckart Rühl,
• Carsten Schleh,
• Andreas Seibel,
• Christina Sengstock,
• Lennart Treuel,
• Annika Vogt,
• Katrin Weber and
• Reinhard Zellner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1944–1965, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.205

• extracellular silver nanoparticles, the intracellular occurrence of silver agglomerates of silver-pulsed cells had decreased in a process which was clearly not related to cell proliferation under these conditions (Figure 10). Interestingly, the decrease in the number of particles was almost completely inhibited

Carbon-based smart nanomaterials in biomedicine and neuroengineering

• Antonina M. Monaco and
• Michele Giugliano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1849–1863, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.196

• primary focus of a study conducted by Heo and colleagues [95], who developed a graphene/PET film to test the effects of a non-contact field stimulation on cell-to-cell coupling. This film was found to be biocompatible and improved cell proliferation and viability compared to those observed in the control

Influence of the PDMS substrate stiffness on the adhesion of Acanthamoeba castellanii

• Sören B. Gutekunst,
• Carsten Grabosch,
• Alexander Kovalev,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Christine Selhuber-Unkel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1393–1398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.152

• parameters such as cell proliferation, as the doubling time of acanthamoeba in axenic culture is on the timescale of days [38]. As acanthamoeba can also be grown in suspension [19], their proliferation might not be strongly influenced by the presence of any substrate. In a recent study, we had investigated

Mimicking exposures to acute and lifetime concentrations of inhaled silver nanoparticles by two different in vitro approaches

• Fabian Herzog,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Sandor Balog,
• Martin J. D. Clift,
• Matthias Epple,
• Peter Gehr,
• Alke Petri-Fink and
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1357–1370, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.149

• . Others found dissolution and thus a subsequent release of Ag ions from PVP-coated Ag NPs that were synthesized similar to the particles used in the current study [64]. Other studies using the same PVP-capped Ag NPs as we used, showed a similar aggregation pattern as we found [46]. Furthermore, cell

• proliferation and migration (chemotaxis) both decreased, and the release of cytokines was affected. Increased IL-8 and decreased IL-6 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels were detected at high Ag NP concentrations [65]. These studies however, were obtained with human mesenchymal stem cells

PEGylated versus non-PEGylated magnetic nanoparticles as camptothecin delivery system

• Paula M. Castillo,
• Mario de la Mata,
• Maria F. Casula,
• José A. Sánchez-Alcázar and
• Ana P. Zaderenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1312–1319, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.144

• ; cancer therapy; iron oxide superparamagnetic nanoparticles; polyethylene glycol; Introduction Camptothecin (CPT) is a quinoline based alkaloid, which exhibits a potent cytotoxic activity against a broad spectrum of tumours [1][2][3]. While most antineoplastic agents inhibit cancer cell proliferation by