International Journal of Nanomedicine (Feb 2018)
Effects of silica–gentamicin nanohybrids on osteogenic differentiation of human osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells
Abstract
Wei He,1 Dina A Mosselhy,2,3 Yudong Zheng,1 Qingling Feng,4 Xiaoning Li,4 Xing Yang,4 Lina Yue,1 Simo-Pekka Hannula2 1School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, School of Chemical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; 3Microbiological Unit, Fish Diseases Department, Animal Health Research Institute, Giza, Egypt; 4State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Introduction: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) as drug delivery systems. This interest is mainly attributed to the ease of their surface functionalization for drug loading. In orthopedic applications, gentamicin-loaded SiO2 NPs (nanohybrids) are frequently utilized for their prolonged antibacterial effects. Therefore, the possible adverse effects of SiO2–gentamicin nanohybrids on osteogenesis of bone-related cells should be thoroughly investigated to ensure safe applications. Materials and methods: The effects of SiO2–gentamicin nanohybrids on the cell viability and osteogenic differentiation of human osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells were investigated, together with native SiO2 NPs and free gentamicin.Results: The results of Cell Count Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay show that both SiO2–gentamicin nanohybrids and native SiO2 NPs reduce cell viability of SaOS-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Regarding osteogenesis, SiO2–gentamicin nanohybrids and native SiO2 NPs at the concentration range of 31.25–125 µg/mL do not influence the osteogenic differentiation capacity of SaOS-2 cells. At a high concentration (250 µg/mL), both materials induce a lower expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) but an enhanced mineralization. Free gentamicin at concentrations of 6.26 and 9.65 µg/mL does not significantly influence the cell viability and osteogenic differentiation capacity of SaOS-2 cells. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that both SiO2–gentamicin nanohybrids and SiO2 NPs show cytotoxic effects to SaOS-2 cells. Further investigation on the effects of SiO2–gentamicin nanohybrids on the behaviors of stem cells or other regular osteoblasts should be conducted to make a full evaluation of the safety of SiO2–gentamicin nanohybrids in orthopedic applications. Keywords: SiO2 NPs, gentamicin, cytotoxicity, ALP activity, mineralization
