Cytotoxicity of mesoporous silica modified by amino and carboxyl groups on vascular endothelial cells

Abstract

Mesoporous silica is widely used because of its unique and excellent properties, especially it can be used as a drug carrier and gene carrier in the biomedical field. After the mesoporous silica is put into clinical use, it is more likely to be exposed in human body. Therefore, the effect of mesoporous silica on human body cannot be ignored. The injury of vascular endothelial cells is a prerequisite for the occurrence of many cardiovascular diseases. As a drug and gene carrier, mesoporous silica increases its contact with vascular endothelial cells, so its toxic effect on cardiovascular system cannot be ignored. In this study, amino (NH2) and carboxyl (COOH) were modified on mesoporous silica SBA‐15 by post‐grafting. The results showed that it still maintained the one‐dimensional hexagonal mesoporous structure of SBA‐15 and had typical mesoporous structure. Then human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were infected with SBA‐15, NH2‐SBA‐15, and COOH‐SBA‐15. The results showed that the functionalized mesoporous silica SBA‐15 had cytotoxicity to HUVECs and damaged the cell membrane, but compared with the unmodified mesoporous silica SBA‐15 the cytotoxicity of functionalized mesoporous silica SBA‐15 was lower and the toxicity of carboxyl modified group was the lowest. By comparing the cell inhibition rate and the expression level of lactate dehydrogenate and reactive oxygen species induced by the three materials, oxidative damage and cell membrane damage may be two mechanisms of cytotoxicity. Mesoporous silica SBA‐15 has an effect on cardiovascular system by inducing the high expression of nitric oxide, intercellular adhesive molecule‐1 and vascular cell adhesive molecule‐1 in HUVECs. In summary, our results show that mesoporous silica is toxic to vascular endothelial cells.

Distinct Methodologies to Produce Capped Mesoporous Silica with Hydroxyapatite and the Influence in Intracellular Signaling as Cytotoxicity on Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

“…The results showed no statistical difference comparing the control and the nanosystem, corroborating that SBA-15/HAP_2 has no cytotoxicity at the dose of 20 µg/mL in HU-VEC cells. These data are corroborated by Gonzalez et al [52]. In their study, they used SBA-15 capped with hydroxyapatite and demonstrated a non-toxic effect on cells.…”

“…Chen Ying et al [ 51 ] showed that mesoporous silica capped with hydroxyapatite has excellent biocompatibility and may serve as a drug delivery system without influencing cell proliferation. Controversially, Zhao et al [ 52 ], using SBA-15 in three forms (SBA-15, NH2-SBA-15, and COOH-SBA-15), demonstrated that pure SBA-15 is the highest cytotoxic form for HUVEC cells. They also revealed that the carboxyl-modified group (COOH-SBA-15) reduced the cytotoxicity of the SBA-15 by reducing the oxidative stress, and this fact can partially explain the absence of cytotoxicity in the SBA-15/HAP_2 sample.…”

Efficient Adsorption of Chromium Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Plant-Derived Silica

“…Therefore, we can assume that the powders obtained by us can be used safely, probably due to their particle size, which varies from 160 to 850 nm. Moreover, Zhao et al showed that modified nanosilica was less toxic to endothelial cells than unmodified [49]. This report showed that the introduction of amino and carboxyl groups on 15-nm silica grains resulted in a significant reduction in toxicity.…”

Revisiting carboxylic group functionalization of silica sol–gel materials

“…COOH-SBA-15 was the lowest. 168 However, whether derivatized or not, all SiO 2 particles induced oxidative and cell membrane damage.…”