Size-dependent cytotoxicity of europium doped NaYF₄ nanoparticles in endothelial cells

Lanthanide-doped sodium yttrium fluoride (NaYF₄) nanoparticles exhibit novel optical properties which make them be widely used in various fields. The extensive applications increase the chance of human exposure to these nanoparticles and thus raise deep concerns regarding their riskiness. In the present study, we have synthesized europium doped NaYF₄ (NaYF₄:Eu³⁺) nanoparticles with three diameters and used endothelial cells (ECs) as a cell model to explore the potential toxic effect. The cell viability, cytomembrane integrity, cellular uptake, intracellular localization, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), apoptosis detection, caspase-3 activity and expression of inflammatory gene were studied. The results indicated that these nanoparticles could be uptaken into ECs and decrease the cell viability, induce the intracellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, increase the ROS level, and decrease the cell MMP in a size-dependent manner. Besides that, the cells were suffered to apoptosis with the caspase-3 activation, and the inflammation specific gene expressions (ICAM1 and VCAM1) were also increased. Our results suggest that the damage pathway may be related to the ROS generation and mitochondrial damage. The results provide novel evidence to elucidate their toxicity mechanisms and may be helpful for more rational applications of these compounds in the future. - Highlights: • NaYF₄:Eu³⁺ nanoparticles with three diameters have been synthesized. • NaYF₄:Eu³⁺ nanoparticles could be uptaken by endothelial cells (ECs). • NaYF₄:Eu³⁺ nanoparticles show a significant cytotoxicity on ECs. • The size of NaYF₄:Eu³⁺ nanoparticles may be important to their toxicology effect