Abstract

Silica nanoparticles (SiO 2 NPs) have been widely manufactured for various applications and unintentionally generated in various industrial processes. SiO 2 NPs exposure is potentially hazardous to human health. Incremental evidence has indicated the presence of SiO 2 NPs in systemic circulation , which warranted their interaction with blood components. Due to the obvious weakness of hemolysis in the risk assessment of environmental NPs, we for the first time use eryptosis as a sensitive indicator to assess the hematotoxicity of SiO 2 NPs. In vitro results showed that the exposure of erythrocytes to pristine SiO 2 NPs resulted in typical features of eryptosis, including oxidative stress , calcium influx, phosphatidylserine externalization and hemolysis. However, SiO 2 NPs covered with mouse plasma (SiO 2 @MP) or grafted with polyvinylpyrrolidone (SiO 2 @PVP) did not stimulate eryptosis. Interestingly, neither bare nor macromolecule-decolorated SiO 2 NPs caused eryptosis in our in vivo mouse model, highlighting the protective role of coronal proteins on the amelioration of SiO 2 NPs-induced hematotoxicity. These results emphasized the influences of surface modification on the toxicity of environmental NPs.