Proteomic analysis of silver nanoparticle toxicity in rat

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (SNPs) have received considerable attention recently, because SNPs with different shapes and sizes exhibit variable antimicrobial activity, which makes them useful for medical and hygienic purposes. SNPs have been detected in various tissues and organisms after inhalation, oral ingestion, and contact with the skin, indicating that SNPs can be distributed to different body tissues after uptake. Thus, the toxicity of SNPs to different body tissues after their uptake needs to be studied. In this study, we performed a proteomic analysis of liver, lung, and kidney tissues in rats exposed to approximately 50 nm SNPs by intravascular injection. Then, the differentially expressed proteins representing a dose-dependent response were identified. The differentially expressed proteins were mostly related to the known toxicity of SNPs, such as apoptosis, increased reactive oxygen species, thrombus formation, and inflammation. Additionally, proteins related to metabolic disorders including diabetes were identified as differentially expressed proteins in kidney, based solely on the analysis of the protein profile and related disease pathway. In conclusion, the differentially expressed proteins identified in this study could provide basic data for understanding the toxic and pathological responses of SNP-exposed tissues and to identify candidate SNP toxicity biomarkers. © 2010 The Korean Society of Environmental Risk Assessment and Health Science and Springer.