Effects of fullerene nanowhiskers on cytotoxicity and gene expression

With recent developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology, carbon-based nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes or Fullerene nanowhiskers (FNWs), are attracting a great deal of interest. However, nanomaterials have novel properties that may cause safety problems in biological systems. Although the toxic effects of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in vitro and in vivo have been well described, the effect of FNWs on cells remains unclear. In the present study, we analyzed the gene expression and cytotoxicity of FNWs-treated cells. The results of cell viabil-ity and gene expression analysis indicate that FNWs has a relatively smaller ability to induce cellular gene expression as compared with MWCNTs or titania nanoparticles. Our results suggest that FNWs have weak cytotoxic effects as compared to the effects of MWCNTs and tita-nia nanoparticles.