Rapid, Standard Assessment Tool For Evaluating Toxicity of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials

Due to their unique properties, nanoparticles have shown promise in biological and biomedical applications, including as diagnostic agents and in therapeutic applications. However, the toxicity of nanoparticles in certain cell types has limited their use in clinical applications. Researchers have highlighted the need for developing a rapid, standard assessment tool to evaluate the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles and nanomaterials systematically.

Prof. Nick Kotov and his team demonstrate such a tool based on high-content screening (HCS) technology, a recent advance in the integration and automation of quantitative fluorescence microscopy and image analysis. The researchers test the ability of HCS to identify cytoxicity of various nanoparticles in different cell types. Each test generated a unique “fingerprint” of cytotoxicity that could reliably estimate the hazardous effects of the particles in each cell type. The authors suggest that this tool could eventually be used to screen various nanoparticles to generate a cytotoxicity database in various cells and tissues.

The paper “High-Content Screening as a Universal Tool for Fingerprinting of Cytotoxicity of Nanoparticles” can be seen at http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn7004393.