Preliminary Study on The Mechanism of Carbon Nanoparticles' Cytotoxicity Induced by Calcium in Medium with Synchrotron Radiation Techniques

In this work,the interactions of calcium ions in cell culture medium with multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWNTs)and carbon blacks(CBs)with nanosize,were studied.The increase in intracellular calcium ions and the relative mechanism were preliminary explored by fluorescent labeling of calcium and synchrotron radiation techniques.The experimental results indicated that large amounts of calcium in cell culture medium were adsorbed on and delivered into HeLa cells by CNPs.Thus the excessive calcium ions delivered into cells by CNPs might be responsible for the toxicity to cells.The study proposed a new notion for correct assay and assessments of the cytotoxicity of CNPs.