Université de Fribourg

Fate of cellulose nanocrystal aerosols deposited on the lung cell surface in vitro

Endes, Carola ; Mueller, Silvana ; Kinnear, Calum ; Vanhecke, Dimitri ; Foster, E. Johan ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Weder, Christoph ; Clift, Martin J. D. ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara

In: Biomacromolecules, 2015, vol. 16, no. 4, p. 1267–1275

When considering the inhalation of high-aspect ratio nanoparticles (HARN), the characterization of their specific interaction with lung cells is of fundamental importance to help categorize their potential hazard. The aim of the present study was to assess the interaction of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with a multicellular in vitro model of the epithelial airway barrier following realistic...

Université de Fribourg

Avoiding drying-artifacts in transmission electron microscopy: Characterizing the size and colloidal state of nanoparticles

Michen, Benjamin ; Geers, Christoph ; Vanhecke, Dimitri ; Endes, Carola ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Balog, Sandor ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: Scientific Reports, 2015, vol. 5, p. 9793

Standard transmission electron microscopy nanoparticle sample preparation generally requires the complete removal of the suspending liquid. Drying often introduces artifacts, which can obscure the state of the dispersion prior to drying and preclude automated image analysis typically used to obtain number-weighted particle size distribution. Here we present a straightforward protocol for...

Université de Fribourg

An in vitro testing strategy towards mimicking the inhalation of high aspect ratio nanoparticles

Endes, Carola ; Schmid, Otmar ; Kinnear, Calum ; Mueller, Silvana ; Camarero-Espinosa, Sandra ; Vanhecke, Dimitri ; Foster, E. Johan ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Weder, Christoph ; Clift, Martin J.D.

In: Particle and Fibre Toxicology, 2015, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 40

The challenge remains to reliably mimic human exposure to high aspect ratio nanoparticles (HARN) via inhalation. Sophisticated, multi-cellular in vitro models are a particular advantageous solution to this issue, especially when considering the need to provide realistic and efficient alternatives to invasive animal experimentation for HARN hazard assessment. By incorporating a systematic test-bed...