Genotoxicity assessment of silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles in human astrocytes

Iron oxide nanoparticles (ION) have great potential for various biomedical and neurobiological applications such as magnetic resonance neuroimaging agents, heating mediators in hyperthermia-based cancer therapy, and molecular cargo in targeted drug/gene delivery across blood-brain barrier. For all these applications, ION must be introduced in the human body and be in contact with cells and tissues, so it is imperative to know the potential risks associated to this exposure, especially in the nervous system. ION surface may be modified by coating with a number of materials to enhance their desirable properties, biocompatibility and biodegradability. Nevertheless, surface covering can alter cellular internalization and other toxicity endpoints. Even though ION seem to be biocompatible and present low toxicity, current data on their effects on the human nervous system are scarce. Thus, the main objective of this work was to examine possible genotoxic effects of ION (silica-coated magnetite) on human glioblastoma (A172) cell line.