Testing the biocompatibility of carbon nanotubes using zebrafish embryos

Jinping Cheng
Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong

*Xiaoning Cai
Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong

*Shuk Han Cheng
Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong

     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: January 15, 2006

Abstract
Little is known about the toxicology of the newly developed nanomaterials (nanotoxicology). In this study, we developed both in-vitro and in-vivo bioassays for the safety and risk evaluation of nanomaterials using zebrafish embryos. Zebrafish embryos are well-established model organism which develop fast with small body sizes and can be easily handled in both in-vitro and in-vivo studies. Carbon nanotube was chosen as a representative nanomaterial to establish the bioassays. For the hydrophobic nanomaterials not soluble in water such as pristine carbon nanotubes, they will form water-stable aggregates, and the nanotoxicology of these kinds of nanomaterials was tested with the in-vitro bioassay through incubation with zebrafish embryos in the culture medium, and this kind of in-vitro nanotoxicology bioassay could be expanded for the environmental toxicity test. For the functionalized nanomaterials totally or partially soluble or dispersible in water such as functionalized carbon nanotubes conjugated with certain biological molecules, they will disperse well in water or other liquid medium, and the nanotoxicology of these kinds of nanomaterials could be evaluated by the in-vivo bioassay by loading into zebrafish embryoic cells, and this in-vivo bioassay could be widely used for the biocompatibility tests for the functionalized nanoamterials devoted for the in-vivo biomedical applications. Molecular and cellular assays were then carried out based on the phenotypes of the affected zebrafish embryos exposed to or loaded with certain nanomaterials to understand the toxicology mechanism, and the protein-protein interaction with the addition of nanomaterials was also investigated using specific protein chromatography, 2-D gel and mass spectrometry analyses. The systematically well-developed in-vitro and in-vivo bioassay with zebrafish embryos can help to evaluate the environment and health related toxicity of all kinds of nanomaterials, and the nanotoxicology results from these two in-vitro and in-vivo bioassays can be further implied to the aquatic environment and both the living organisms.