Nanogenotoxicity is an emergent field, relevant for estimating the potential genotoxic risk of nanomaterials. In this study we investigated the genotoxic potential of zinc oxide (ZnO, ≤35 and 50 nm) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (NPs) in the nuclei of Allium cepa root meristem cells by using a modified alkaline comet assay. | Turkish Journal of Biology Research Article Turk J Biol (2014) 38: 31-39 © TÜBİTAK doi: Genotoxic effects of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles on root meristem cells of Allium cepa by comet assay Eşref DEMİR, Nuray KAYA*, Bülent KAYA Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Nanogenotoxicity is an emergent field, relevant for estimating the potential genotoxic risk of nanomaterials. In this study we investigated the genotoxic potential of zinc oxide (ZnO, ≤35 and 50 nm) and titanium dioxide (TiO2, 21 and 50 nm) nanoparticles (NPs) in the nuclei of Allium cepa root meristem cells by using a modified alkaline comet assay. ZnO and TiO2 NPs were supplied to cells treated in vitro at 3 different concentrations (10, 100, and 1000 µg/mL). For the comet assay, our results indicate a dose-dependent increment in DNA damage in cells exposed to 100 and 1000 µg/mL of ZnO NPs (≤35 and 50 nm) for percentage of DNA tail (% DNA tail). On the other hand, the results from TiO2 NPs indicated that the DNA damage in the cells exposed to only the highest concentration (1000 µg/mL) of TiO2 NPs (21 nm) is statistically significant in comparison to the control cells, while all concentrations of TiO2 NPs (50 nm) are stat Key words: Zinc oxide nanoparticles, titanium dioxide nanoparticles, Allium cepa, comet assay, genotoxicity, DNA damage 1. Introduction Industrial applications of nanotechnology are rapidly increasing due to the new and interesting physicochemical properties of manufactured nanomaterials. Wide expansion of this market implies the growing existence of such materials around us. Today, although there are some people who are exposed to nanoparticles (NPs), a very dramatic increase in the number is expected in the near future (Lux Report, 2008). Nanomaterials are .
