Dong, ShupingHirani, Anjali A.Colacino, Katelyn R.Lee, Yong WooRoman, Maren2015-03-042015-03-042012-09-21Dong, S., Hirani, A. A., Colacino, K. R., Lee, Y. W., & Roman, M. (2012). Cytotoxicity and Cellular Uptake of Cellulose Nanocrystals. Nano LIFE, 2(3). doi: 10.1142/S1793984412410061http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51594There is growing evidence that filamentous nanoparticles offer advantages over spherical ones in drug delivery applications. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of rod-like, plant-derived cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) for nanomedical uses. Besides a nonspherical morphology, their facile bioconjugation, surface hydrophilicity and small size render CNCs promising drug carriers. The cytotoxicity of CNCs against nine different cell lines (HBMEC, bEnd.3, RAW 264.7, MCF-10A, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, KB, PC-3 and C6) was determined by MTT and LDH assay. CNCs showed no cytotoxic effects against any of these cell lines in the concentration range and exposure time studied (0–50 µg/mL and 48 h, respectively). Cellular uptake of fluorescein-50 - isothiocyanate-labeled CNCs by these cell lines, quantified with a fluorescence microplate reader, was minimal. The lack of cytotoxicity and the low nonspecific cellular uptake support our hypothesis that CNCs are good candidates for nanomedical applications.en-USIn CopyrightNanoparticlesdrug carriersFITC conjugationnanomedicineanimal cell culturesArticle - Refereedhttps://doi.org/10.1142/S1793984412410061