In vitro evaluation of effects of different properties of ZnO nanoparticles on fibroblast cell

Nanotechnology is one of the fastest growing sectors of the high-tech economy. In recent times, there are more than 1000 nanomaterials products that are used in commercial, medical and personal applications. Engineered nanomaterials with dimension of 100 nm or less provide novel applications in electronics, healthcare, cosmetic technologies and engineering industries. ZnO nanoparticles are widely used in cosmetic applications. Although nanomaterials have high properties, problems like toxicity will come with together. Lack of toxicological data on nanomaterials makes it difficult to determine if there is a risk associated with nanomaterials exposure.The materials that are used in this study are ZnO nanoparticles that have different shapes and dimensions. In this thesis, cytotoxic effects of ZnO metal oxide nanoparticles were investigated with techniques of cell cultures on healthy cells as in vitro. Accordingly, at first Chinese hamster lung cells ( V79 379 A) were exposed to approprite dose of 100 nm ZnO, 2-8 µm ZnO and 7 µm rod shape ZnO materials and, then cell cytotoxicity are measured with MTT ( mitochondrial activity) test which is accepted as indicator of mitochondrial activity and NRU ( lysosomal activity) test which is accepted as indicator of lysosomal activity. The results showed that all materials cause cytotoxicity on healthy cells dependent on times and doses.In order to evaluate effects of these nanoparticles on the cell cytoskeleton, FITC-Phalloidin staining was used. Increasing of these test doses are caused some changes of cell morphology and F-Actin filaments.