Investigating the immune and cytotoxic responses of mast and lung epithelial cells to engineered nanoparticles

The applications for engineered nanoparticles have increased dramatically in recent years. They have been introduced into the industrial, electrical, agricultural, pharmaceutical and medical fields due to their unique properties. To date, zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in a number of commercial products such as cosmetics and sunscreens, due to their broad UV absorption characteristics, which protect the skin from sunburn and skin cancer. In the biomedical domain, biodegradable chitosan NPs have been assembled to carry medical compounds and genes as a vaccine delivery vector. However, currently there is limited understanding of how these nanomaterials interact with the cellular immune system, and what their potential impacts on human health might be. This study investigates the possible health risks associated with the application of inorganic ZnO and TiO2 NPs, as well as their in vitro cytotoxicity, inflammatory and allergic immune responses using mast cells and lung epithelial cells. This study also investigates the role of the various structural properties (size, wall thickness and porosity) of organic chitosan nanocapsules in drug delivery. The findings from this study will provide valuable information on how size and dispersion of NPs can play major roles in cytotoxicity and immune responses. These discoveries will also impact considerable on the development of new nanomaterials with lower toxicity, immunogenicity and greater therapeutic potential.<br>