Figure 2

Iron nanoparticles induce endothelial cell permeability in HMVECs. A. HMVECs were grown to a confluent monolayer on coverslides and serum-starved overnight. The cells were exposed to 50 μg/ml iron nanoparticle for different periods of time as indicated. After exposure, the cells were fixed, permeabilized, and stained with VE-cadherin (green color) and actin filaments (red color). A Zeiss confocal microscope was applied to take the images. Each image is an overlay of two different stains. Arrows indicate the gaps. B. HMVECs were grown to a confluent monolayer on gold microelectrodes and serum-starved overnight. The cells were treated with 50 μg/ml iron nanoparticles, followed by measuring the transendothelial resistance (TER) for 5 hours. The results shown are representative of 3 independent experiments. C. Exposure of HMVECs to 50 μg/ml iron nanoparticles does not induce cytotoxicity. HMVECs were exposed to 50 μg/ml for different periods of time as indicated. At the end of each exposure, the cell culture media was collected and measured for lactate dehydrogenease (LDH) activities. Values given are means ± SD (t-test, n = 5, p > 0.19).