Interaction of Differently Coated Silver Nanoparticles With Skin and Oral Mucosal Cells

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) can be found in different consumer products and various medical devices due to their excellent biocidal properties. Despite extensive scientific literature reporting biological effects of AgNP, there is still a lack of scientific evidence on how different surface functionalization affects AgNP interaction with the human skin and the oral epithelium. This study aimed to investigate biological consequences following the treatment of HaCaT and TR146 cells with AgNP stabilized with negatively charged sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)-sulfosuccinate (AOT), neutral polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and positively charged poly-l-lysine (PLL). All AgNP were characterized by means of size, shape and surface charge. Interactions with biological barriers were investigated in vitro by determining cell viability, particle uptake, oxidative stress response and DNA damages following AgNP treatment. Results showed a significant difference in cytotoxicity depending on the surface coating used for AgNP stabilization. All three types of AgNP induced apoptosis, oxidative stress response and DNA damages in cells, but AOT- and PVP-coated AgNP exhibited lower toxicity than positively charged PLL-AgNP. Considering the number of data gaps related to the safe use of nanomaterials in biomedicine, this study highlights the importance of particle surface functionalization that should be considered during design and development of future AgNP-based medical products.