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Silver impairs neurodevelopment: studies in PC12 cells.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Powers, CM; Wrench, N; Ryde, IT; Smith, AM; Seidler, FJ; Slotkin, TA
Published in: Environ Health Perspect
January 2010

BACKGROUND: Exposure to silver is increasing because of silver nanoparticles in consumer products. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: Many biological effects of silver entail actions of Ag+ (monovalent silver ions), so we used neuronotypic PC12 cells to evaluate the potential for silver to act as a developmental neurotoxicant, using chlorpyrifos (CPF), a pesticide known to evoke developmental neurotoxicity, as a positive control for comparison. RESULTS: In undifferentiated cells, a 1-hr exposure to 10 microM Ag+ inhibited DNA synthesis more potently than did 50 microM CPF; it also impaired protein synthesis but to a lesser extent than its effect on DNA synthesis, indicating a preferential effect on cell replication. Longer exposures led to oxidative stress, loss of viability, and reduced numbers of cells. With the onset of cell differentiation, exposure to 10 microM Ag+ evoked even greater inhibition of DNA synthesis and more oxidative stress, selectively impaired neurite formation without suppressing overall cell growth, and preferentially suppressed development into the acetylcholine phenotype in favor of the dopamine phenotype. Lowering the exposure to 1 microM Ag+ reduced the net effect on undifferentiated cells. However, in differentiating cells, the lower concentration produced an entirely different pattern, enhancing cell numbers by suppressing ongoing cell death and impairing differentiation in parallel for both neurotransmitter phenotypes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that silver has the potential to evoke developmental neurotoxicity even more potently than known neurotoxicants, such as CPF, and that the spectrum of effects is likely to be substantially different at lower exposures that do not show signs of outright toxicity.

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Published In

Environ Health Perspect

DOI

EISSN

1552-9924

Publication Date

January 2010

Volume

118

Issue

1

Start / End Page

73 / 79

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Toxicology
  • Silver
  • Rats
  • Pesticides
  • PC12 Cells
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Neurons
  • Neurogenesis
  • Metal Nanoparticles
  • Dopamine
 

Citation

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Powers, C. M., Wrench, N., Ryde, I. T., Smith, A. M., Seidler, F. J., & Slotkin, T. A. (2010). Silver impairs neurodevelopment: studies in PC12 cells. Environ Health Perspect, 118(1), 73–79. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0901149
Powers, Christina M., Nicola Wrench, Ian T. Ryde, Amanda M. Smith, Frederic J. Seidler, and Theodore A. Slotkin. “Silver impairs neurodevelopment: studies in PC12 cells.Environ Health Perspect 118, no. 1 (January 2010): 73–79. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0901149.
Powers CM, Wrench N, Ryde IT, Smith AM, Seidler FJ, Slotkin TA. Silver impairs neurodevelopment: studies in PC12 cells. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Jan;118(1):73–9.
Powers, Christina M., et al. “Silver impairs neurodevelopment: studies in PC12 cells.Environ Health Perspect, vol. 118, no. 1, Jan. 2010, pp. 73–79. Pubmed, doi:10.1289/ehp.0901149.
Powers CM, Wrench N, Ryde IT, Smith AM, Seidler FJ, Slotkin TA. Silver impairs neurodevelopment: studies in PC12 cells. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Jan;118(1):73–79.

Published In

Environ Health Perspect

DOI

EISSN

1552-9924

Publication Date

January 2010

Volume

118

Issue

1

Start / End Page

73 / 79

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Toxicology
  • Silver
  • Rats
  • Pesticides
  • PC12 Cells
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Neurons
  • Neurogenesis
  • Metal Nanoparticles
  • Dopamine