Retracted: Comparative study of cyto‐ and genotoxic potential with mechanistic insights of tungsten oxide nano‐ and microparticles in lung carcinoma cells

Abstract

The exigency of semiconductor and super capacitor tungsten oxide nanoparticles (WO NPs) is increasing in various sectors. However, limited information on their toxicity and biological interactions are available. Hence, we explored the underlying mechanisms of toxicity induced by WO NPs and their microparticles (MPs) using different concentrations (0-300 μg ml ) in human lung carcinoma (A549) cells. The mean size of WO NPs and MPs by transmission electron microscopy was 53.84 nm and 3.88 μm, respectively. WO NPs induced reduction in cell viability, membrane damage and the degree of induction was size- and dose-dependent. There was a significant increase in the percentage tail DNA and micronuclei formation at 200 and 300 μg ml after 24 hours of exposure. The DNA damage induced by WO NPs could be attributed to increased oxidative stress and inflammation through reactive oxygen species generation, which correlated with the depletion of reduced glutathione content, catalase and an increase in malondialdehyde levels. Cellular uptake studies unveiled that both the particles were attached/surrounded to the cell membrane according to their size. In addition, NP inhibited the progression of the cell cycle in the G /M phase. Other studies such as caspase-9 and -3 and Annexin-V-fluorescein isothiocyanate revealed that NPs induced intrinsic apoptotic cell death at 200 and 300 μg ml concentrations. However, in comparison to NPs, WO MPs did not incite any toxic effects at the tested concentrations. Under these experimental conditions, the no-observed-significant-effect level of WO NPs was determined to be ≤200 μg ml in A549 cells.

In Vitro Analysis of the Effects of ITER-Like Tungsten Nanoparticles: Cytotoxicity and Epigenotoxicity in BEAS-2B Cells

“…The aim of our study was thus to provide an evaluation of the cytotoxic, genotoxic, and epigenetic in vitro effects that ITER-like W-NPs might have on human health, in relation with the possible W-NPs transformation in biological media. In particular, we focused our attention to an in vitro 2D model of the lung, the BEAS-2B cell line, that was chosen because inhalation is the main route of exposure to W. Similarly, a significant number of toxicity studies on W were performed on lung-derived cell lines [4,5,7,8,10,12].…”

“…While we do not have any physico-chemical information on the WO 3 NPs used in the Sprague-Dawley ex vivo studies presented just above [25,26], Chinde and colleagues have presented a thorough characterization of the WO 3 NPs they have tested on the alveolar A549 cell line [5]. In milliQ water, by TEM, the mean size of WO 3 NPs corresponded to 54 ± 29 nm, while DLS corresponded, respectively, to 170 ± 2 nm and 224 ± 5 nm in milliQ and in DMEM cell culture medium.…”

“…Particles were suspended for 24–48 h in DMEM and the nominal WO 3 concentration was compared to total W measured by ICP-MS. While the nominal WO 3 concentration of 200 and 300 µg/mL corresponded to 170 and 330 µg/mL total W concentration before ultracentrifugation, only a small fraction of soluble W (0.9 and 2.4 µg/mL) was detected in ultracentrifuged solutions [5]. These results clearly indicate that Chinde et al used non-soluble WO 3 NPs; conversely, our ITER-like W-NPs showed a significant dissolved W mass fraction already at t = 0 h in cell culture medium which further increased up to 24 h (Table 2).…”

“…The soluble Na 2 WO 4 (W 6+ ) was able to induce apoptosis and cell cycle blockage in human peripheral lymphocytes [3] and, by enhancing the expression of genes related to cancer and inflammation, to alter gene expression in the bronchial human-derived BEAS-2B cell line [4]. WO 3 NPs (W 6+ ) impaired the viability of human-derived lung alveolar A549 cells, enhanced DNA damage and micronuclei formation, as well as ROS production and apoptosis [5].…”

Highly Crystalline WO3 Nanoparticles Are Nontoxic to Stem Cells and Cancer Cells

“…On the contrary, suspensions of uncoated particles were shown to be extremely toxic in vivo, leading to mouse death within a few seconds. Chinde et al studied the toxicity mechanisms of different concentrations (0-300 μg/mL) of WO 3 nano-and microparticles in human lung carcinoma (A549) cells [117]. The microparticles were nontoxic in the entire range of concentrations studied, while the nanoparticles were nontoxic in the concentration range of up to 100 μg/mL only.…”