Preliminary Study of Cell Viability at Three Cell Differentiation Levels of Mouse ES Cells using Nano-sized Titanium Dioxide

Abstract

The viability of cells exposed to chemicals may differ depending on the degree of differentiation. In the present study, we used a murine embryonic stem (ES) cell line, ES-D3, which does not require feeder cells in culture, to compare the viability of undifferentiated and differentiated cells following exposure to a chemical. Differentiated cells were maintained at the first (P1) and second passages (P2), and cells were exposed to nano-sized titanium dioxide (nano-TiO₂). There were no significant differences in the viability of cells among the three differentiation stages; however, undifferentiated cells had slightly lower viability than differentiated cells. There was no significant difference in cell viability between differentiated cells at P1 and P2. Our findings were based on the response of cells to nano-TiO₂; thus, it should be noted that other chemicals may have different effects. Our study also suggests that undifferentiated ES cells are more sensitive to chemicals; therefore, they may be useful to evaluate the cytotoxicity of nano- and sub-micron-sized chemicals.