The role of surface modification for TiO2 nanoparticles in cancer cells

• We synthesize TiO2-COOH and TiO2-NH2 nanoparticles with improved dispersibility.
• TiO2-COOH and TiO2-NH2 show low cytotoxicity compare to bare TiO2.
• TiO2-NH2 shows higher cellular uptake efficiency than TiO2-COOH.
• Early exocytosis of TiO2-NH2 from HeLa cell is found after 6 h incubation.
• Clathrin-endocytic pathway dominates in the intracellular process of TiO2-NH2.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) have a potential in the field of biological application. However, its poor dispersibility in water hampered its applications. In this study, 3-phosphonopropionic acid and 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane were respectively used for surface modification on TiO2 NPs with negative and positive surface charges (denoted as TiO2-COOH and TiO2-NH2). Zeta potentials of the prepared samples with high absolute value demonstrate the great improvement in their dispersibility. In terms of viability experiment, both TiO2-COOH and TiO2-NH2 showed low cytotoxicity. The cellular uptake efficiency and the uptake pathways of TiO2-COOH and TiO2-NH2 for cancer cells were studied. The exocytosis of TiO2-NH2 was also observed in the experiment.

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