AI Article Synopsis
- The toxicity of engineered nanoparticles mainly depends on their stability in biological systems, particularly in the human digestive system.
- To evaluate this stability, researchers adapted an existing assay to simulate conditions in the stomach and small intestine while testing different types of quantum dots.
- They found that removing specific ligands reduced the stability of quantum dots, but adding mucin offered some protection against degradation under gastric conditions, indicating the importance of biological factors in nanoparticle behavior.
Article Abstract
The toxicity of engineered nanoparticles is expected to depend in part on their stability in biological systems. To assess the biodurability of engineered nanomaterials in the human digestive system, we adapted an assay previously used to evaluate the bioaccessibility of metals in contaminated soils. The compositions of the simulated gastric and intestinal fluids, temperature and residence times were designed to closely mimic conditions in the stomach and duodenum of the small intestine. We demonstrated the utility of the assay using CdSe/ZnS quantum dots functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) thiol of two different molecular masses (PEG and PEG). Under gastric conditions, removal of the PEG ligand diminished the stability of PEG-quantum dot suspensions, while PEG-quantum dots were severely degraded. Inclusion of the glycoprotein mucin, but not the digestive protein pepsin, in simulated gastric fluids provided both PEG- and PEG-coated quantum dots partial protection from transformations induced by gastric conditions.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4156289 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17435390902859556 | DOI Listing |
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