Analytical Sciences

Proteomics for Toxicological Pathways Screening: A Case Comparison of Low-concentration Ionic and Nanoparticulate Silver

Pawitrabhorn SAMUTRTAI,* Sucheewin KROBTHONG,** and Sittiruk ROYTRAKUL**

*National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
**Proteomics Research Laboratory, Genome Technology Research Unit, BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand

LC-MS/MS-based proteomics coupled with an online bioinformatics platform was under evaluation for applicability to toxicological pathways evaluation at low cytotoxic concentration (LC₁₀) of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) and ionic silver in human carcinoma cells after 48 h of exposure. Significantly, differentially-expressed proteins (One-way ANOVA, p < 0.05) with more than 4-fold compared to the control were subjected to functional pathway analysis by STITCH. SOTA clustering indicated a similarity of the protein expression between AgNP and the control group. We established a resemblance of proteins in the cell cycle pathway affected by both Ag substances. The differences in the toxicological pathways from AgNO₃ were involved in the cellular organization and metabolic process of macromolecules, while the nucleic acid metabolic process was altered by AgNP. The present study supported the practicability of LC-MS/MS-based proteomics coupled with STITCH for the identification of toxicological pathways in both silvers. We appraised this platform technology to be promising and powerful for a toxicological screening of other new substances.

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