Nanotoxicology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inorganic nanoparticles can accumulate in living organisms causing a dose-dependent increase in cellular reactive oxygen species. Here, the authors leverage this as a potential scheme for regulating metabolic disorders, showing that that low-dose nanoparticle administration can enhance lipid hydrolysis and alleviate fatty liver.

    • Jie Cai
    • , Jie Peng
    •  & Diming Wang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoplastic contamination is a serious environmental concern and could have implications on plant life depending upon interactions. Here, the authors study the effect of size and charge on the accumulation and uptake of model polymer nanoparticles by plant roots which has implications for environmental exposure and nanoparticle delivery to plants.

    • Sam J. Parkinson
    • , Sireethorn Tungsirisurp
    •  & Richard M. Napier
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Characterizing the soft protein corona on nanoparticles i.e. the outer layer of the corona, remains a longstanding challenge. Here, the authors develop an in situ method to monitor the dynamic processes of multilayered corona formation and evolution that offers a universal strategy to characterize the soft corona proteome.

    • Didar Baimanov
    • , Jing Wang
    •  & Chunying Chen
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanomaterials have a range of potential applications, however, toxicity remains a concern, limiting application and requiring extensive testing. Here, the authors report on a predictive framework made using a range of tests linking materials properties with toxicity, allowing the prediction of toxicity from physiochemical and biological properties.

    • Vittorio Fortino
    • , Pia Anneli Sofia Kinaret
    •  & Dario Greco
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding nanomaterials interactions with complement is important for a number of applications. Here, the authors study the interaction of sub 6 nm dendrimers with complement and show the small dendrimers escape complement activation but do interact with IgM to trigger lectin-pathway complement activation.

    • Lin-Ping Wu
    • , Mario Ficker
    •  & Seyed M. Moghimi
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological fate of nanomaterials in organisms is an important topic, however, limitations of analytical techniques has hampered understanding. Here, the authors report on a study into the fate of model, gold nanoparticles in an aquatic food chain using an analytical workflow and range of analytical methods.

    • Fazel Abdolahpur Monikh
    • , Latifeh Chupani
    •  & Willie J.G.M. Peijnenburg
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbon dots have attracted much attention for biomedical applications but potential degradation and associated toxicity are still poorly understood. Here, the authors report on a study into the photo-degradation of carbon dots, the products produced and associated cytotoxicity.

    • Yue-Yue Liu
    • , Nan-Yang Yu
    •  & Ai-Jun Miao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the biological identity of nanoparticles has mainly focused on the hard protein corona with the soft corona largely overlooked. Here, using click-chemistry, the authors report on a capture system for the identification of the soft corona proteins and investigate the effects on cell interactions.

    • Hossein Mohammad-Beigi
    • , Yuya Hayashi
    •  & Duncan S. Sutherland
  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear whether 2D metal dichalcogenides (TMD) alone can cause ferroptotic cell death. Here, the authors show TMD nanosheets induced ferroptosis in mammalian cell lines and in a mouse model after aspiration of TMD materials into lungs, causing ferroptotic cell death.

    • Shujuan Xu
    • , Huizhen Zheng
    •  & Ruibin Li
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interaction between proteins and nanomaterials is complex and of interest for controlling nanoparticle fate. Here, using experimental and computational methods, the authors report on the effect of hydroxyl groups on protein interaction and how they can be used to enhance circulation times.

    • Xiang Lu
    • , Peipei Xu
    •  & Yu-Qiang Ma
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy has been associated with impaired birth outcomes. Here, Bové et al. report evidence of black carbon particle deposition on the fetal side of human placentae, including at early stages of pregnancy, suggesting air pollution could affect birth outcome through direct effects on the fetus.

    • Hannelore Bové
    • , Eva Bongaerts
    •  & Tim S. Nawrot
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cellular uptake of nanoparticles is highly variable between individual cells in a population. Here, the authors show that this heterogeneity is a result of varying numbers of nanoparticle-containing endosomes while the nanoparticle dose per endosome remains constant.

    • Paul Rees
    • , John W. Wills
    •  & Huw D. Summers
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Determining the source of nanoparticles is critical for nanotechnology risk assessment. Here, the authors develop an approach that, by taking into account the isotopic signatures of both Si and O, may be able to distinguish between natural and engineered SiO2 nanoparticles, and even those synthesized by different manufacturers.

    • Xuezhi Yang
    • , Xian Liu
    •  & Guibin Jiang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbon-nanohorns have a unique morphology and structure yet little is known about the biocompatibility. Here, the authors investigate the biocompatibility and bio-interaction of carbon nanohorns, compare them to carbon nanotubes and show the superior biocompatibility and safety of the nanohorns.

    • Bing He
    • , Yujie Shi
    •  & Qiang Zhang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoparticle elasticity is thought to play an important role in drug delivery, but is little studied. Here, the authors use nanolipogels with tunable moduli to study the effect of particle elasticity on in vitro cellular uptake and in vivo tumor uptake, finding that stiffer particles are not as easily internalized.

    • Peng Guo
    • , Daxing Liu
    •  & Marsha A. Moses
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ability to spectroscopically pinpoint whether nanoparticles are located inside or outside of cells represents an overarching need in biology and medicine. Here, the authors show that the chirality of DNA-bridged particle dimers reverses when they cross the cell membrane, providing a real-time chiroptical signature of their intra- or extracellular location.

    • Maozhong Sun
    • , Liguang Xu
    •  & Chuanlai Xu
  • Article |

    The assessment of nanomaterial toxicity can be hampered by difficulties in determining cell dosage. Here, the authors present a simple method for determination of nanomaterial agglomerate density in liquid media, enabling accurate calculation of dose delivered to cells in an in vitrosystem.

    • Glen DeLoid
    • , Joel M. Cohen
    •  & Philip Demokritou