Fluorescent nanodiamond labels: Size and concentration matters for sperm cell viability

Nanodiamonds are increasingly popular in biomedical applications, including optical labelling, drug delivery and nanoscale sensing. Potential new applications are in studying infertility or labelling sperm cells. However, for these applications, it is necessary that nanodiamonds are inert and do not alter sperm properties. In this article, we assessed the biocompatibility of nanodiamonds in detail. We investigated different sizes and concentrations of nanodiamonds and sperm preparation methods. We evaluated if the metabolic activity, membrane integrity, morphology and formation of reactive oxygen species were altered. These parameters were tested for sperm cells in their uncapacitated and capacitated states. Unfortunately, FNDs are not universally biocompatible. Generally, cells in the capacitated state are more prone to stress. Additionally, larger particles and lower concentrations are tolerated better than smaller and higher concentrated particles.