Investigation of in vitro toxicity of newly synthesized mesoporous silica nanotubes with different pore sizes in human liver cancer cells (HepG2)

Nanotechnology has gained importance in recent years with the use of nanomaterials smaller than human cells in many areas such as food, cosmetics, defense industry and pharmaceutical industry. It has begun to be widely used in the field of health in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, especially cancer. However, due to their size and content, these materials can be toxic and pose a risk to human health. In this study, the cytotoxic effects of mesoporous silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles with different pore sizes, synthesized using a new method and made from polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000) and polyethylene glycol 35000 (PEG35000) were tested on HepG2 cells liver carcinoma cells. Additionally, the effects of mesoporous silica nanotubes on lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also examined. It was found that the cytotoxicity of both types of mesoporous SiO2 nanoparticles increased with rising concentration. Cell viability decreased significantly as the nanoparticles dosage (100-10 μg/mL) increased. Both nanoparticles were not cytotoxic at concentrations up to 50 µg/mL, however, they became cytotoxic at higher concentrations (p