Innovative Drug Discovery and Nanotechnology (Track)
Effects of barium titanate nanoparticles on proliferation and differentiation of mesenchimal stem cells
Gianni Ciofani
Department of Scuola Superiore Sant''Anna
Italian Institute of Technology
Abstract:
Nanoscale structures and materials have been explored in many biological applications because their novel properties and functions drastically differ from their bulk counterparts. Ceramic materials based on perovskite-like oxides are of intense interest because of their applications in electrical and electronic devices. Due to its high dielectric constant, barium titanate is probably one of the most studied compounds of this family. We have proposed nanomedicine applications of different types of barium titanate nanoparticles (BTNPs). They have been proven to be non-toxic even at high concentrations, and can be efficiently exploited as protein low molecular weight drug carriers.
In this talk, we report about a study of interaction between BTNPs and rat mesenchimal stem cells (MSCs). The biocompatibility was evaluated up to 100 µg/ml with several independent assays, demonstrating an optimal response of the cells to this nanomaterial. Cytoskeleton conformation following incubation with BTNPs was evaluated with f-actin staining; SEM imaging, moreover, allowed an interesting investigation of nanoparticles-cell membrane interaction to be performed. MSCs were finally allowed to differentiate in the presence of increasing concentration of nanoparticles, and differentiation status was monitored with specific assays. The presence of the nanoparticles in the culture medium did not prevent a well sustained differentiation of the cells in both adipocytes and osteoblasts.
