Toxicity of nano- and ionic silver to embryonic stem cells: a comparative toxicogenomic study

BACKGROUND: The widespread application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and silver-containing products has raised public safety concerns about their adverse effects on human health and the environment. To date, in vitro toxic effects of AgNPs and ionic silver (Ag(+)) on many somatic cell types are well established. However, no studies have been conducted hitherto to evaluate their effect on cellular transcriptome in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). RESULTS: The present study characterized transcriptomic changes induced by 5.0 µg/ml AgNPs during spontaneous differentiation of mouse ESCs, and compared them to those induced by Ag(+) under identical conditions. After 24 h exposure, 101 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in AgNP-treated cells, whereas 400 genes responded to Ag(+). Despite the large differences in the numbers of DEGs, functional annotation and pathway analysis of the regulated genes revealed overall similarities between AgNPs and Ag(+). In both cases, most of the functions and pathways impacted fell into two major categories, embryonic development and metabolism. Nevertheless, a number of canonical pathways related to cancer were found for Ag(+) but not for AgNPs. Conversely, it was noted that several members of the heat shock protein and the metallothionein families were upregulated by AgNPs but not Ag(+), suggesting specific oxidative stress effect of AgNPs in ESCs. The effects of AgNPs on oxidative stress and downstream apoptosis were subsequently confirmed by flow cytometry analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the results presented in the current study demonstrate that both AgNPs and Ag(+) caused transcriptomic changes that could potentially exert an adverse effect on development. Although transcriptomic responses to AgNPs and Ag(+) were substantially similar, AgNPs exerted specific effects on ESCs due to their nanosized particulate form. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12951-017-0265-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.