The impact of silica encapsulated cobalt zinc ferrite nanoparticles on DNA, lipids and proteins of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.

AbstractNanomaterials are currently the subject of intense research due to their wide variety of potential applications in the biomedical, optical and electronic fields. We prepared and tested cobalt zinc ferrite nanoparticles (Co0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4+γ [CZF-NPs]) encapsulated by amorphous silica in order to find a safe contrast agent and magnetic label for tracking transplanted cells within an organism using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs) were labeled for 48 h with a low, medium or high dose of CZF-NPs (0.05; 0.11 or 0.55 mM); silica NPs (Si-NPs; 0.11 mM) served as a positive control. The internalization of NPs into cells was verified by transmission electron microscopy. Biological effects were analyzed at the end of exposure and after an additional 72 h of cell growth without NPs. Compared to untreated cells, Annexin V/Propidium Iodide labeling revealed no significant cytotoxicity for any group of treated cells and only a high dose of CZF-NPs slowed down cell proliferation ...