One of the major obstacles that limits the use of magnetic nanoparticles in biomedical applications is their potential toxicity. In the present study, we evaluated the cytotoxic effects of thiol-functionalized silica-coated iron oxide (Fe3O4@SiO2-SH) nanoparticles using human lung epithelial cells A549. We investigated the effect of Fe3O4@SiO2-SH nanoparticles on the cell viability, proliferation, cell cycle distribution, adhesion, apoptosis, and the orientation of the cytoskeletal networks, as well as on expression of proteins involved in cell death, cell survival, and cell adhesion. We demonstrated that exposure of A549 cells to Fe3O4@SiO2-SH nanoparticles resulted in severe disruption of the actin microfilaments and microtubule cytoskeleton and reduced the size of focal adhesions. Furthermore, cell adhesion was significantly affected as well as the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and p38. Our findings highlight the need for in-depth cytotoxic evaluation of nanoparticles supporting their safer use, especially in biomedical applications.

Department of Biological and Biochemical Sciences Faculty of Chemical Technology University of Pardubice Studentská 573 532 10 Pardubice Czech Republic

Department of Medical Biochemistry Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové Charles University Šimkova 870 500 03 Hradec Králové Czech Republic

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology Faculty of Chemical Technology University of Pardubice Studentská 573 532 10 Pardubice Czech Republic

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