Comparison of cytotoxicity of α-AlO and η-AlO nanoparticles toward neuronal and bronchial cells.

The role of the crystalline structure on the toxicity of two phases of AlO NPs, alpha (α-AlO NPs) and eta (η-AlO NPs), was investigated in this study. Different techniques were employed for the characterization of the AlO NPs and multiple toxicological endpoints were used to assess the toxicity toward mouse neuroblastoma (N2A) and human bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells. Based on the results of the multiple toxicological endpoints, revealed differences in the toxic potential results for α-AlO NPs and η-AlO NPs, with the latter showing a more pronounced effect. These effects could be due to the high uptake of the η-AlO NPs in the cytoplasmic vesicles, as evidenced by TEM and ICP-MS. Hence, the results demonstrate the potential toxicity of both α-AlO NPs and η-AlO NPs, although the N2A and BEAS-2B cells showed greater susceptibility toward η-AlO NPs. Thus, our study demonstrates the important role of the crystalline structure in relation to the nanotoxicity of AlO NPs.