Transport and Toxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in HepaRG Cell Spheroids

Abstract

We studied the effects of silver nanoparticles (10 nm) on HepaRG cell spheroids simulating liver tissue. The mathematical model was proposed that describes nanoparticle diffusion in a spheroid consisting of 5000 cells depending on the external nanoparticle concentration. It was demonstrated that cells in the 3D model were less sensitive to the toxic effects of nanoparticles in comparison with 2D cultures. Impaired integrity of the cell membrane did not deteriorate cell viability (according to MTT test).